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    Meghan Daniel, Support Coordinator, Chicago Abortion Fund, discusses the work her organization does, during the press conference. Photo by Tim Carroll Photography
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    Jennifer Welch, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois talks about Texas SB-8 during the press conference. Photo by Tim Carroll Photography
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    Deborah Cosey Lane, Secretary Treasurer of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308 discusses how reproductive choice effects her transit drivers. Photo by Tim Carroll Photography
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    Stacy Davis-Gates, Vice President of Chicago Teachers Union, discusses what reproductive rights belong to women alone. Photo by Tim Carroll Photography
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    Lucille Lindsey, a student from UIC, discusses what reproductive rights mean to her generation. Photo by Tim Carroll Photography
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    Benita Ulisano of the Clinic Vest Project discusses the challenges faced by clinic escorts. Photo by Tim Carroll Photography
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    Speakers at the No Abortion Bans, Not Now, Not Ever Press Conference listen to a fellow speaker. Photo by Tim Carroll Photography
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    Some of the speakers at the No Abortion Bans, Not Now, Not Ever Press Conference. Photo by Tim Carroll Photography
On Sept. 27—the first day of the new U.S. Supreme Court session—various women’s- and reproductive-rights groups held a rally in Federal Plaza in the Loop.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois Jennifer Welch said she wanted Americans to know that today might be “the last Supreme Court session where Roe v. Wade is the law of the land.”

Gina Rozman-Wendle, of Chicago NOW, added, “Extreme factions of this country are attacking our basic rights—the right to control our bodies.”

Speakers also took issue with the new Texas statute that bans abortions after six weeks.

The Chicago Abortion Fund’s Meghan Daniel said the Texas law “deputizes everyday people to police and punish pregnant folks.” Welch added, “Not only does [SB-8] make abortion illegal at six weeks—before most people even know that they’re pregnant—[but] it sets up vigilantism.”

Andy Thayer, of the Gay Liberation Network, also spoke. “Those who think that we can lose Roe v. Wade and not, as a result, risk everything that LGBTQs have won over the past two decades, are putting their heads in the sand,” he said, in part.

All the speakers encouraged everyone to mobilize and join the March to Defend Abortion Access at Daley Plaza on Saturday, Oct. 2.