Women, step forward
By DEVIN HEILMAN
Staff Writer
It's going to be a big weekend for female- focused issues.
Pro-life supporters will meet in the parking lot of Candlelight Christian Fellowship Church at 10 a.m. Saturday for the 44th annual Right to Life Commemorative March and Rally.
Meantime, the Woman’s March on Spokane will put a spotlight on people’s rights, according to organizers.
The right-to-life march occurs on the weekend anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which ruled a woman's right to abortion falls within the right to privacy and is thus protected by the Constitution.
"It puts it in the public view," said Connie Frank, longtime member of Right to Life Coeur d'Alene, the organizing party. "This shows that there are other people who may not say anything at a certain time, but there are people who are against abortion.
"We want to keep it out there," she continued. "We want to say, 'Yeah, it is important.' It's not going to change until the Supreme Court decides when life begins... Until the Supreme Court decides when life begins, what happens? We're all entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness, but what do you call life?"
The event will feature a short march from Candlelight, located at 5725 N. Pioneer Drive, and will loop along Highway 95 to Kmart. Frank said guest speakers will be home-school teacher and chemist Becky Taylor and Open Arms Pregnancy Center and Real Choices Clinic's Janet Valov. Taylor will speak about the importance of pro-lifers being open with their stance on abortion and Valov will speak about abstinence.
Frank said they are hoping to see more than 200 people attend this year. Right to Life Coeur d'Alene will provide rally signs for the attendees.
"We are anti-abortion, but we hold the woman in a high regard," Frank said. "We care for the woman and the child. We are not anti-woman. We just believe that life begins at conception."
Many cities throughout the country, including Washington, D.C., are going to get a double-dose of activism Saturday as Women's Marches will take place about the same as pro-life rallies. The Woman's March on Spokane will go from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Spokane Convention Center, 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd., and is expected to attract more than 2,000 people.
The Women's Marches come on the heels of president-elect Donald Trump's Friday inauguration.
"It's super exciting," said Hayden resident Heather Rhodes, a coordinator of the Women's March. "This is about women's rights, but also about people's rights, people who are different from ourselves. It's about equal pay, it's about women's health. There are a lot of things that came out of this last election cycle on both sides that make us feel like we weren't being heard. We felt that we needed to make our voices heard.
"Women are bi-partisan. We're not anti-Trump. It's not against something, it's for something."
People of all backgrounds and walks of life are welcome to attend the Women's March on Spokane. The event will include a volunteer fair, networking opportunities and donations for Spokane's Hope House (formerly the Downtown Women's Shelter) will be accepted.
"When women do well, the whole world does well," Rhodes said. "When women have things going well for them, that increases the wellness of the world."
She said a lot of men will be marching for a variety of issues that affect women, including equal pay. She said organizers are very intent on it being a peaceful rally.
"Hopefully this creates a dialogue instead of anger and mudslinging," she said. "We're very split as a country. I think coming behind and saying we can stand up for our rights for women and groups that aren't necessarily seen as equal, that can be unifying for us. If we can unify through this, that would be amazing."