WACO, Texas — A Reproductive Rights March will be held in Waco in support of Women and LGBTQ Plus rights on Saturday, October 2.
Baylor Student Veronica Penales is just one of many who helped organize the event and she is working towards educating the Baylor community and wants more students to get involved.
“We are pushing for the voter initiative here on campus,” Penales said.
Penales says that Saturday's event is all about bringing up issues that are impacting Central Texans.
“We are bringing up a lot of issues that have been currently impacting Texas legislature,” Penales said.
Some of those issues include voter and LGBTQ+ rights as well as the highly controversial fetal heartbeat bill that was passed on September 1.
“There are so many parts to this issue and this march will hopefully show people just how important this issue is and it ultimately affects all of women's rights and that is a human right,” Penales said.
The bill prohibits abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually, around 6 to 8 weeks. Those against the bill argue falls at a time when most women don't even know that they are pregnant.
“If you can’t get out of the state of Texas you are going to be forced to have a child that you don’t want or can’t afford or can’t support or that could kill you,” said Cheryl Foster.
Those in favor of the bill believe that this will help limit the number of abortions in the state of Texas.
“We air on the side of life. Anything that can encourage the saving of a life, especially in the abortion issue, is going to be paramount to the republican party,” said Christopher.
The Saturday march hopes to bring the community together with different speakers, poets, and music so that all voices can be heard.
“I think a greater purpose of this is just to unify a lot of people who wouldn’t usually have this platform or chance to hear other women’s stories,” said Penales.
