A crowd chanted as signs depicting “my body, my choice” in English and Spanish bobbed through the air and residents marched down Broadway on Oct. 2.
The Santa Maria Women’s March for Reproductive Rights coincided with the national movement against a Texas bill (SB 8) that bans abortions after six weeks and the $10,000 incentive to report anyone helping a woman get an abortion, said Luz Reyes-Martín, vice president of Community Engagement for Planned Parenthood of the Central Coast.
“Oftentimes we feel that we are not affected since we are in California. Of course, we were all activated when we saw what happened in Texas, but we need to be really realistic about what will happen in the next year,” Reyes-Martín said.
Specifically, she is talking about the Supreme Court of the United States, which could make a decision on Dec. 1 to overturn Roe v. Wade. If the Supreme Court reverses the 1973 decision, women’s constitutional rights would be severely cut and 26 states could enact their own immediate abortion bans, Reyes-Martín said.
“Locally, it is a reminder we need to be mindful of who we are electing into office. SB 8 had its origins in a city council in Lubbock, Texas. We know elections are coming up in 2022; it is really important to know the folks running for office and where they stand,” she said.
In light of this, Reyes-Martín and her fellow organizers decided this year’s local Women’s March slogan would be: Stay informed. Stay involved. Stay Active.
“We have to be at the planning tables and the policy tables. Each voice coming together becomes very powerful,” Reyes-Martín said.
Voices have come together about women’s rights on the Central Coast since 2017 with march locations in San Luis Obispo and Lompoc, but there wasn’t a Santa Maria location until 2019, longtime volunteer and community activist Pam Gates said.
“In February 2019, a group of people in Santa Maria said we need to have our own march because we are different from SLO and Lompoc, we have different demographics,” Gates said.
The Santa Maria Women’s March saw more than 400 participants in 2020, prior to the pandemic, and and hosted a virtual event in January 2021.
Coming back together on Oct. 2, participants wore masks, and NAACP volunteers asked about vaccination status and helped schedule vaccine appointments.
Poster-making stations greeted marchers with colorful markers and glitter. Nonprofit organizations such as Líderes Campesinas, Standing Up for Racial Justice, and CAUSE manned information tables, provided snacks and Gatorade, and showed movement support.
“The march brought together community organizations that may not have otherwise worked together; it gave a loud, collective voice to people who have not been heard before, and that’s always the focus of the Women’s March,” Gates said.
Volunteers also handed out information about how residents can support people in Texas, donate to action funds in California, and learn more about Planned Parenthood.
“Something I really appreciate about this march is there are clear calls to action. They are going to leave with actionable things to do,” Reyes-Martín said.
This article appears in Oct 7-14, 2021.
