Any conversation about a woman’s body is personal, Ama McKinley said. But having them discussed on a national stage feels especially vulnerable, she said.
Nevertheless, McKinley, 37, said she was eager to hear Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee for president, speak about abortion access during her campaign rally Tuesday at Georgia State University’s Convocation Center in Atlanta.
McKinley was one of the thousands of Harris supporters who lined the streets of downtown Atlanta to attend the vice president’s rally, her 15th visit to Georgia since 2021.
A few years ago, McKinley, who lives in Midtown, had a miscarriage.
“It’s so common and prevalent,” she said.
She wants to ensure other women have access to the medical care they need during miscarriages and have the option to seek an abortion.
Abortion access in Georgia and across the nation has become more limited since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 struck down the constitutional right to an abortion, overturning the nearly 50-year-old Roe v Wade decision. The court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization gave states the ability to create their own rules regarding abortion access and triggered a 2019 law passed by Georgia state lawmakers banning abortions once a medical professional can detect fetal cardiac activity, which is typically about six weeks into a pregnancy and before many know they are pregnant.
“For there to be loud indifference to that experience, it’s unbelievable,” said McKinley, a jewelry designer.
Geoff Duncan, Georgia’s former lieutenant governor, was one of the guests at Tuesday’s rally and is one of the highest-profile Republicans to endorse Harris’ campaign. However, Duncan helped push through the passage of the state’s restrictive abortion law and also attended the bill’s signing into law.
Kelly Sklare, a 50-year-old certified nurse midwife from Decatur, said reproductive rights is a top reason she plans to vote for Harris. Since Roe was overturned, she’s been concerned for her two young daughters.
“I honestly am afraid to see the world that they’re inheriting,” she said. “You want the best for your kids. You want more than you had, and I would be giving them less.”
Vanessa McCray/AJC
Vanessa McCray/AJC
Gracie Bulleit, 32, and her friend Samantha Bush, 31, attended the rally together. Bush flew in early Tuesday morning from Detroit to attend the event. They said their top priority this election is reproductive rights.
“Seeing abortion rights stripped was a wake-up call for young women. We grew up with Roe v. Wade. The very real fear that we weren’t going to have access was terrifying,” said Bulleit, who grew up in Atlanta and now lives in North Carolina.
Bulleit said she’s noticed a renewed vigor to the election since Harris became the presumptive nominee.
“The energy feels so tangible,” she said.
Bush said she had grown up being told that it was “crazy” to think the Supreme Court could overturn Roe.
“It’s a scary time,” Bush said, adding that she wished more men were also invested in the issue.
