Independence Has Been Stripped Way From American Women
At the Independence Day big flag raising at Fairhaven High School I met a group of women who were there with protest posters and flags. I had not organized anything and thought I would go and be the lone person demonstrating during the ceremony. When I read the following statement to them they agreed that they would all take a knee during the national anthem and the pledge of allegiance.
It was a silent protest, no chanting or disruption of the ceremony. Many people approached us and thanked us for what we were doing. Most of these people were women of my age, 60s or 70s. We grew up at a time when we had the security of the pro-choice decision by the Supreme Court’s ruling. No one confronted us with negative attitudes. The following is a statement that I had prepared:
“Im taking a knee because I will not stand for a symbol that is supposed to represent the INDEPENDENCE of all the citizens of this country. Let me be clear, I respect its intent and more importantly, I respect the men and women who serve and protect our democracy. One of those VETS is my husband who was a Navy Corpsman serving with the Marines at Camp Lejeune. He broke his neck in service and today he still suffers with pain from that severe injury.
Friday June 24, 2022 the SCOTUS stripped the WOMEN of our country the 1973 ruling that women have the same right to privacy that men enjoy. That basic human right provides a female [many are abused, underaged girls] access to a safe, legal abortion.
When our country restores the INDEPENDENCE of WOMEN to have control of their bodies, I will once again proudly stand for the symbol of our country’s freedom.”
Diane Hahn , Fairhaven
•••
Click here to download the entire 7/14/22 issue: 07-14-22 July4Cannon
Support local journalism, donate to the Neighb News with PayPal
