HARRISBURG, Pa. — Sarah Hammond from Hanover wasn’t expecting to speak at Saturday’s "Ban Off Our Bodies" rally to share her personal story.
However, she’s happy she did.
"It’s something that is critically important for me to be able to stand and make sure that I can try to reach out to even one person in the crowd whose had that experience and might be alone in the process there," said Sarah Hammond, a patient storyteller.
Sarah was in her early 20’s when she got pregnant, not long after that she learned she had a non-viable pregnancy.
She went to planned parenthood to get an abortion.
"It's something that I don’t think anyone regardless of where you are at, whether you’re my instance, where it’s medically necessary, or whether you’re someone who just doesn't have the means, or doesn’t want to have your pregnancy. Whether you’re the individual who was there who didn’t have proper sex education, or whether you’re the couple that I met who wanted their pregnancy, but the woman’s body was riddled with cancer, and they had to make that devastating decision. You just never know until you’re in that position," said Hammond.
Jaye Shear, Patricia Carbone and Kathy Echevarria drove two hours from Wyoming County, Pennsylvania to attend Saturday’s march.
"It doesn’t seem like we should still have to fight for these women’s rights that we’ve been fighting for literally centuries," said Patricia Carbone.
Jaye, Patricia and Kathy say they will not stop showing up and making their voices heard, until women have the sole decisions on issues affecting their bodies.
"It's a woman's body, it’s a baby growing inside a woman, and you don’t know her circumstance, you don’t know her situation, it makes no sense at all for someone else to be making that decision for that person," said Carbone.
Organization PA family is against what the march stands for and believes that when someone is pregnant, they are pregnant with a human deserving the right to a life.
“We are against abortion and we are fighting for a Pennsylvania where all life is flourished and protected," said Alexis Sneller from PA family.