Courtesy
Nichole Beer, who is running for the Nevada Senate, is hosting the Women’s March rally.
Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021 | 8 p.m.
In the face of legislation restricting abortion rights across the United States, activists are fighting for women to have the freedom to choose how to exercise their reproductive rights.
Locally, teacher Nichole Beer, a candidate for Nevada Senate District 20, organized a 300-person march for these same reasons.
The rally will take place 2 p.m. Saturday, starting at the Shoppes on the Parkway parking lot at 3540 St. Rose Parkway in Henderson.
The rally will occur simultaneously with other Women’s March-led rallies around the country, including the main one in Washington, D.C. The first Women’s March took place Jan. 21, 2017, in D.C. following the inauguration of former President Donald Trump.
Attendees in Henderson will march about a half mile and mingle afterward. Even though the event is outdoors, masks will be required.
Beer said reproductive rights, namely abortion, are an issue she encountered at 19, when she was sexually assaulted and beaten by a law enforcement officer. She became pregnant as a result and received an abortion at Planned Parenthood.
Had she not gotten that abortion, Beer said, her life would have been altered drastically, and she would have raised a child not born out of love or desire. Now 52, with a daughter she chose to have, Beer said she does not regret her decision.
“It's a very personal issue to me,” she said. “I can't imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't had that option. … To be quite honest, reproductive rights is my hill to die on.”
The goal of the rally is to advocate for safe abortions in Nevada for those in- or out-of-state who want them.
Beer said that although abortions might be restricted in states like Texas, which limits the procedure to six weeks post-conception, abortions will happen regardless — just dangerously, in some cases.
“They will be unregulated, and it will mostly affect historically disenfranchised groups,” she said. “If you're someone who has money, sources and so forth, you would just go to another state. So abortions will still happen. We just want to keep them safe and legal.”
For more information about the rally, click here.
