ATLANTA — Abortion rights advocates are rallying in Atlanta Tuesday evening to protect the right to reproductive healthcare following the leaked opinion of the Supreme Court. A group gathered at Centennial Olympic Park in Downtown.
Before the event kicked off, Lauren Frazier, Communications Director for Planned Parenthood Southeast, said she wants to make sure people understand the leaked opinion is not a decision yet.
"Abortion care is still safe, legal and available," Frazier said. "So for the 1/4 women who will need to access abortion care, abortion is your right."
She said her organization still has time to fight.
"We deserve bodily autonomy, and we deserve to make decisions about our families. And no one can do that but us," she said.
Frazier said they are preparing for what could be the final decision about Roe v. Wade in June and how to protect their patient's rights.
"We can't walk in someone else's shoes," she said, "And it shouldn't be our place to step into their most personal medical decisions."
Dr. Patricia Marsh is a family care physician in Atlanta, and she agreed.
"I am a proponent of patient decision making and I think any clinical decision should be up to the patient. I do not believe it is anyone's decision to make, other than the mother," she said.
Frazier said any decision limiting abortion access would disproportionately impact low-income, minority and rural women, creating an economic hardship to get the care they need.
"They should trust women. They should trust people to make the decision that is best for themselves in their families," she said, "We don't need politicians to interfere in any way in the relationship between doctors and their families."
Frazier said they would work to protect them.
"Our movement was made for this moment, and we won't be silenced, we won't back down, and we will never give up."
About 300 people let their voices be heard Tuesday evening at the rally Downtown. They marched from Centennial Park and made a stop at the State Capitol.
Photos | Abortion rights advocates rally in Atlanta
