Fort Worth high school students march in support of abortion rights
Around 30 teens joined student leaders with the Paschal High School feminist club in Fort Worth on Saturday afternoon to protest for abortion rights.
The group, with some parents and strangers who joined them along the way, marched down Main from the Tarrant County Courthouse to East 9th Street carrying signs and chanting in support of abortion rights.
“America is going back in this decision in the draft opinion,” Paschal High School senior Olivia Castillo said. “Even though most of us can’t vote, there are still ways we can make our voices heard.”
Castillo, sophomore Maya Perez and freshman Jonathan Feldman, all members and leaders of the Paschal High School feminist club, organized the rally and march Saturday for that reason.
Feldman came up with the idea the day after the draft opinion of a Supreme Court decision that would, if finalized, effectively undo Roe v. Wade — a legal precedent that had federally recognized abortion as a privacy right — and give states the authority to decide abortion laws.
“Things should be getting better, moving forward, not getting worse and moving backward in America,” Feldman said. “Five people get to choose for millions of people on a woman’s right to choose what is best for her body? That’s regression.”
Feldman, a freshman at Paschal High School who moved to Texas from the UK in 2011, said America is supposed to be the freest country on earth. Limiting access to abortions doesn’t hold up to that standard, he said.
Perez said the march was not just about what attention they could garner for abortion rights on Saturday but also about getting photos and other material they could share on social media for weeks to come as a way to say teens aren’t OK with the draft opinion.
“It’s about the optics that we can use to continue this protest online,” Perez said.
Castillo said the group also wanted to see what kind of reactions they would get from people who saw their group marching.
“Considering how many people cheered and the random strangers that joined us, I would say the response was pretty great,” Castillo said.