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Pro-choice protestors march across Hathaway Bridge

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – Pro-choice protestors took to the Hathaway Bridge with signs in hand to make their voices heard.

The Supreme Court draft opinion leak on Roe v. Wade suggests the high court is poised to overturn the historic case that legalized abortion nearly 50 years ago.

But some Bay County women disagree and decided to take to the streets, or in this case, the bridge.

“If a young woman is raped or it’s a matter of incest or anything like that and they got pregnant, it should be her choice whether they carry on with the pregnancy or not,” protester Chrissy Segal said. “I don’t know why anybody would want to force anybody to have a child from that type of situation so that is one of the reasons I’m here amongst many others. We deserve equal rights.”

Rebecca Hodges with Liberals of Bay County put together Sunday’s march across the Hathaway Bridge.

“A woman’s choice and what she does with her body is between her and her doctor and not between her and the government and there was a lack of organization in the town so I decided to spearhead it,” Hodges said. “The bridge is highly visible and it’s just the best place to get people to see what we have to say.”

Dozens of pro-choice protestors marched up the bridge and waved their signs at oncoming traffic.

“Banding together is one of our ways that we can make a difference,” Segal said. “We have petitions to be signed. We have candidates that are running that can make a change and that’s why a lot of women and people and men are here and that’s why we are here. We are here to protect ourselves, to protect our kids, the future women.”

The march even included a spot for people to register to vote.

The Supreme Court’s final decision is expected sometime this summer.