Roughly 53 people, mostly women
and calling themselves Women on Watch, carried signs and lined up along Route
52 across from the Mendenhall Inn Tuesday evening. They were protesting
Republican legislators and politicians who were about to have a rally at the
inn.
“We’re tired of Republican
legislators like Pat Toomey and Joe Pitts attaching amendments to totally
unrelated bills denying women their reproductive rights and the right to health
insurance,” said Betty Garrett of Kennett Township.
When asked for specifics, she
keyed on U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey as representative of the Republican agenda.
“Toomey voted for the Blunt
amendment which would tell employers they didn’t have to cover women’s
prescription contraception if it was against their conscience. That is very
broad. Very broad.”
The Blunt Amendment was proposed by U.S. Sen. Roy
Blunt, R-Mo. If passed, it would have allowed any employer, not just religious
groups, with moral objections to opt out of the Obama administration’s birth
control coverage rule. It was attached to a highway funding bill.
She also cited HB 1077 as
requiring a trans-vaginal ultrasound before an abortion can be performed.
“In my eyes, that is rape. Any
device inserted in a person’s body without their permission is rape,” she said.
“We want to protect our dignity. We are intelligent enough to make our own
decisions.
Garret wants
people to become aware that there are people who care enough to make signs,
come out and protest. She said many of the women attending were in their 80s.
“We’re also
very concerned about Voter ID,” Garrett said. “It’s a poll tax by any other
name. When you have senior citizens who don’t drive and if they live alone,
it’s very difficult for them to get an ID…It’s difficult to get a photo ID and
it costs money. Voters should not have to pay any money to be able to vote.
Citizens should not have to pay money to vote. Voter fraud is a red herring.”
June Peterson,
from Wilmington, was one of the other women attending the protest. She said
Republicans don’t treat women as equals.
“They want
to take away abortion rights and equal pay,” Peterson said.
The protestors left
the area before the start of the political event at the inn.
The end of Rick Santorum’s campaign earlier that day had opened the way
for Toomey to endorse presidential hopeful Mitt Romney during his Chester
County campaign stop.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
