The ad hoc grassroots group “Neighbors in Darien, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Stamford, Weston, Westport, and Wilton” will hold a public “Rally for Choice” on Sunday, June 23, at 3 pm at the gazebo in Ridgefield’s Ballard Park, to unhappily mark the second anniversary of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (the “Dobbs Decision”). The rally will feature speakers and artistic performers, including grassroots local citizens, healthcare professionals, elected officials, and other leading voices for reproductive rights and healthcare. The organizers invite and encourage all people concerned for these rights to attend and show their support.

The Dobbs Decision has been widely condemned as recklessly reversing 50 years of human rights progress and reasoned precedent and jurisprudence, overturning the Supreme Court’s decisions in both Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1982). The two years since release of the Dobbs Decision have seen what many consider to be disastrous roll backs of basic human rights and reproductive health care for large swaths of the American population. The decision is also seen as the model and motivation for recent accelerating attacks on legal rights to many other aspects of essential healthcare, including contraception, in vitro fertilization (IVF), gender-affirming care, and legal protections regarding sexual orientation and gender expression.

Invited speakers include:

• Healthcare practitioners/providers, including Planned Parenthood

• Grassroots local activists

• Elected officials, including State Representatives Aimee Berger-Girvalo and Anne Hughes, State Senators Julie Kushner and Ceci Maher, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, among others.

Speakers will provide updates on the latest developments in the fight to protect and expand reproductive rights and the right to bodily autonomy and offer suggestions for ways individuals can assist in those efforts in their everyday lives.

For More Information Contact Melissa Spohn