On the eve of the second anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down the constitutional right to an abortion, First Lady Jill Biden spoke to a crowd of nearly 200 people in the Mr. Smalls Theater.
As the audience awaited Dr. Biden’s remarks Sunday evening, they listened to a brief musical performance featuring Rusted Root member Liz Berlin and heard introductory speeches from several local officials and activists, including Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato.
Biden took the stage at about 7 p.m. to talk about the overturning of Roe v. Wade two years ago and President Joe Biden’s mission to fight for women’s reproductive rights.
“My husband, President Biden, has always been a champion for women,” Biden said in her speech. “Joe is leading a whole of government response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, strengthening access to reproductive health care and fighting for a national law that would restore Roe’s protections.”
Biden recalled when she was 17, and her friend sought a psychiatric evaluation to allow her to terminate her pregnancy back when abortion was illegal in Pennsylvania. She said shame, silence and danger defined that time for many women and now, 50 years later, women are back fighting the same battle from decades past.
Biden rallied the crowd to not allow freedoms to slip away under a Trump presidency, saying the Biden Harris campaign will knock on every door, organize phone banks and register voters to win the 2024 presidency.
“We're going to meet this moment as if our fundamental rights are at stake,” Biden said. “Because they are! As if our democracy is on the line.”
The crowd chanted with her. “Because it is!”
After Biden’s remarks, she introduced Hadley Duvall, a sexual assault survivor from Kentucky who shared stories about her experiences in the wake of sexual abuse.
“I was impregnated from being raped by my stepfather at the time, but the first thing I heard once I saw that positive pregnancy test was, ‘You have options,’’’ she said. “But now, unfortunately, women and girls who are walking in my shoes — or who may have to walk in my shoes — they don't have anything. Not even options.”
Duvall said that Trump brags about overturning Roe v. Wade and that he is proud of each abortion ban across the country. She said the stakes of this election could not be higher for women.
“When I walk into the voting booth on November 5th, I will vote for the younger me — the one who deserved so much better and who deserved the choices,” Duvall said. “I will vote for the girls of America who are too young to have their opinion, but old enough to suffer from the damage.”
