Louise Stone (L) with Ella Sulloway, At Todays Lincoln Park Rally, in Support of Women’s Health Care.  The Constant Honking of Horns from Supporters of Pro-choicers Passing Vehicles Often Drowned Out On-going Conversations on Park Grounds.

A Sign Held by Caitlin Roberts  is a Remote Worker in Portland. There Has Been Much Criticism of “No-Show” Susan Collins (R), for lying to Maine Constituents About her Pro-Abortion Stance.  Her Recent Failure to Vote for the Senate’s  Women’s Health Care Protection Act Clinched her Legacy as a “Traitor” to Women all Over This Country.  Collins (R) is an Embarrassment to Maine.  Some Have Called for Her to Resign Her Office to be Replaced by Someone Who Does Represent Women.

Pro-Choicers Lined Congress Sgreet in front of Lincoln Park from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm This Afternoon. The Constant Honking of Horns from the Public in Support of Women’s Health Care Often Made it Hard to Hear Conversations in the Area.!

“I remember marching down Fifth Avenue in New York City with thousands and thousands of women chanting – “Our bodies, our lives, our right to decide,” said Louise Stone late this morning at a Rally at Portland’s Lincoln Park. That would have been in the early 70s just before Roe vs. Wade was passed she said.  “And here we are back once again.  The political climate is so much worse than it was back then.”

Stone, who lived in the Netherlands for three years, recently said that our bodies are not sexualized in Europe as they are here in the United States.  “That’s because we are a nation of religious hypocrites.  The fear that teaching accurate sex education will promote being sexually active is unfounded,” Stone said. “The paranoia that I feel here I never feel in the Netherlands.  The mentality is very different there.”  She and her husband return to the Netherlands to visit   periodically.

Ella Sulloway, is a senior at Suffolk University,  Boston. For her senior thesis, she compared sexual trends in the US with those of the Nertherlands.  She found “overwhelming evidence that abstinence from sex education increases teen rates of pregnancy.”  Is that what you want?

Nicole Clegg, Senior Policy Planner, for Planned Parenthood, Rally host,  told this blogger that about 500 people attended the Rally this morning on a, sunny day with temperatures in the 80s in Portland – usually a good beach day for many.  Clegg said that Rallies like this one are important, but advocates need to get active.

For that reason, six stations were set up around the Park – each with a unique purpose. An “Introduction to Volunteering” was the most popular station with at least one hundred people signing up there to volunteer. The second most popular station came from volunteers sent out to educate the public about the “Women’s Health Care Protection Act.”  Fifty people signed up to participate in that activity.

Originally, the Rally was to have been held at Woodfords Congregational Church Clegg said.  But she soon realized that the Church wasn’t large enough to accommodate all the pro-choicers who wanted to participate.

Munjoy Hill Resident Jenifer Wikstrom, Held This Provocative Sign. She Said the Line Came From a Movie Back in the 90s, Called “Legally Blonde” Starring Renee Witherspoon. The Sign  Initiated Many Conversations; Like the Supreme Court Needs to Legislate that Activity on the Part of Men to Decrease Pregnancies in this Country.  Would This Sign be “Provocative” in the Netherlands?

On Tuesday of this week, the City of Portland, granted Planned Parenthood a permit to hold the Rally at Lincoln Park.  “We really had to scramble.  We did a lot of planning in a very short time period,” said Clegg.  Formerly, she was the spokeswoman for the City of Portland.

Lincoln Park, the city’s first public park, was established as a firebreak in the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1868.  The two acre Park is little used by individuals. Instead, it is sometimes used for events such as today’s Rally when a large, outdoor space is required.

For more opportunities to express your views on Senator Collins (R) betrayal of women all over this country, every Thursday at her Biddeford Office, on Main Street, there is a rally starting at 5:00 pm.  “We are calling her out for supporting Justice Kavanaugh and  Trump’s other Supreme Court appointments according to a volunteer at today’s Portland Rally.  Should you want to call “No-Show”  Collins’ Washington, D.C. office to let her know how  you feel about her betrayal of American women, call:  202 224-2523.  You will probably only get an answering machine at this time, because Senate staffers are doing other work!  Also, the surge of telephone calls to her office is overwhelming and staffers  just don’t want to hear it.

Please visit the previous post herein entitled:  “Anti-abortionists Driven From Monument Square by Teenagers.”

In the past, this blogger has written extensively about “No-Show” Collins failure to represent the interests of Maine residents.  For a look at some of these stories, please visit: January, 1, 2018; December 7 and 8, 2017; February 22, 2018; and September 6, 2018.

(mhn.com is once agani having difficulty posting some photos on this blog.  Am trying to fix the probem currently).