Protestors rally in Pikeville to voice opinion against Supreme Court ruling

HAZARD, Ky. (WYMT) - Protestors gathered at the old courthouse building in Pikeville to put a spotlight on rural communities.

“We really wanted to reflect national action after Roe v. Wade was overturned...and of course that does effect here in rural communities, even though we often get forgot about or left behind,” Pikeville Pride organizer Cara Ellis said.

Communities like in Eastern Kentucky, a state where the majority of voters signal they are against the right to choose. Protestors say they want that narrative changed.

“We wanna show that we have a movement here...we have people here fighting for our rights...fighting for our access to bodily autonomy...our reproductive rights...our rights to privacy,” Pikeville Pride organizer Emma Lowe said.

In support of the movement was Charles Booker, who is running against U.S. Senator Rand Paul in the upcoming election. Booker says he feels empathy for Eastern Kentuckians.

“I realized my family across Kentucky feel the frustrations that I do,” he said.

And he feels current state leaders are not listening to their constituents.

“A lot of our leadership in Frankfort have made this a central issue. They’re not talking about quality healthcare, making sure that our children get food, or that we address housing crisis.”

We reached out to the office of Sen. Rand Paul for a response to Booker’s comments, but have not heard back.

On Friday, Sen. Paul tweeted his support for the Supreme Court decision. He called it “a monumental step to not only protect life, but for the court to finally correct the mistake it made and return governance back to the people and their elected representatives.”

Copyright 2022 WYMT. All rights reserved.