Two women arrested at pro-choice rally
There have been rally's every single night this week since the overturn of Roe v Wade and protesters say they don't plan to stop anytime soon.
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - After the overturning of Roe v Wade, protesters in Yuma have continued marching to raise awareness for reproductive rights.
Friday night, two women were arrested for allegedly blocking traffic, says one protester Peyton Ortiz, also founder of Citizens Curating Safe Spaces.
Locals protesting from City Hall to Heritage Library and back to downtown in an effort to be heard.
"This is not just important to women who want abortions. This is fundamental rights that affect everyone's ability to choose whether or not they want a family," says Ortiz. "This affects so many things. It affects in vitro fertilization, people who are trying so hard to have a family and can't are meeting more roadblocks now because of this."
Ortiz says what started as a peaceful protest turned ugly.
"We got mostly cheers, lots of support but there were definitely a few dissenters, a few negative people that we encountered," Ortiz says.
According to Ortiz, people were throwing things out of the car toward protesters, honking and screaming at them, and even trying to drive through the crowd.
She says when the protesters started to block traffic, things escalated and the Yuma Police Department shut them down.
"They came and arrested two of the people who were up towards the front in the road and I believe they were arrested for blocking traffic," says Ortiz.
Organizers of the protest created an Instagram post to get the word out to help raise bail money for the two women arrested.
Ortiz says the bail was about $550 each and they were successful with raising the proceeds because by Saturday morning, the two women were released.
She says the community members rallying wanted the women to know that what they did wasn't for nothing and progress was still being made.
"The reason it's most important is because it affects future rights," says Ortiz. "If these rights are taken away and the right to separate church and state is taken away, what other rights that make America what it is are gonna be next? Who are they going to affect next? Are they going to take away your rights next?"
According to Peyton, another protest is happening tonight on the corner of 4th Avenue and 16th Street starting at 7 pm where they will be signing petitions that will then be sent to lawmakers.
