‘Unthinkable.’ Hundreds protest in downtown Lexington after Roe v. Wade overturned.
An ear-splitting scream roared up from the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza in Lexington Friday night, as hundreds of protesters vented their rage and sadness in response to Friday’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe. v. Wade.
“My heart is aching, and I am furious,” said Lindsey Burke, who was recently elected to serve the 75th district in the Kentucky House of Representatives. “The pendulum has now swung as far right as it has in my entire lifetime.”
She said the decision removing federal protection for abortion rights was “unthinkable.”
“We can change what’s happening by electing progressive people to the General Assembly,” she told the crowd “We may have lost this battle, but we have not lost this war.”
Activists at rallies Friday in both Lexington and Louisville called on attendees to fight back for abortion rights in the voting booth.
Rabbi David Wirtschafter, of Temple Adath Israel in Lexington, told rally attendees that the decision is “an assault on our democracy.”
“When we deprive over 50 percent of the population of bodily autonomy, we don’t have democracy,” he said. “If we’re going to build our democracy back, we better turn out and vote.”
Speakers at both rallies emphasized that if people want change, they should vote out the Republican majority.
“Nobody is coming to save Kentucky,” Rep. Nima Kulkarni, D-Louisville, told the crowd in Louisville.
Several speakers voiced concern that the decision on abortion would be a stepping-stone affecting other rights.
“This could just be step one in what lies ahead,” said Sen. Reggie Thomas, D-Lexington. “We have got to raise our voices. ...Stand together and stand as one to protect the rights of all people.”
State Sen. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, told Louisville demonstrators that the decision isn’t about abortion but “taking rights away from women. This does not end with Roe v Wade.”
Referencing the lack of exception for rape, incest and teens wanting an abortion under Kentucky’s “trigger law,” he said, “If you are a teenage woman raped by a family member, you are forced to give birth today in Kentucky.”
“This decision is outrageous,” said Savannah Trebuna, patient advocacy organizer with Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates of Kentucky, which organized the rallies. “It is racist. It is classist.
“This is just the beginning, because the Supreme Court has a mission to roll back more and more ... of our human rights.”
She urged attendees to donate to the Kentucky Health Justice Network, which helps people with funding for abortions, and she encouraged them to get involved with Protect Kentucky Access, a group of organizations working to defeat a proposed constitutional amendment to declare that there is no right to an abortion in the Kentucky constitution.
At times, speakers at the Lexington rally struggled to be heard above nearly constant honks of support from passing vehicles.
Trebuna said she was inspired by the turnout.
“I see new leaders in the reproductive justice movement,” she said.
Herald-Leader reporter Alex Acquisto contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 24, 2022 at 10:12 PM.
