By james art 
SALT LAKE CITY — A wild crowd, surrounded by a police escort, shut down State Street Saturday morning as they marched the steep mile and a half to the Capitol building for a demonstration, part of the nationwide Women’s March.
A main focus of the group, directed at the lively morning, was women’s reproductive rights. They were spurred by the death of Joceli Barnica, who ProPublica reported Wednesday suffered a fatal infection after doctors delayed treatment for her miscarriage because of Texas’ abortion ban.
“We’re marching for our lives and our daughters’ lives and our daughters-in-law’s lives and our sisters’ lives and so on and so forth,” Darlene McDonald, rally speaker, told KSL. com.
“We’re a lot more alike than we are different,” Taryn Hiatt said. “It shouldn’t have anything to do with red or blue.”
She wants leaders who share her beliefs to be voted in.
“We’re proud to be one of the youngest states, and we’re also proud to be a state where a lot of babies are born,” McDonald said. “It’s not a Democratic or Republican issue if a woman is bleeding from a miscarriage for which she can’t be treated. . . . This is a medical situation that should be managed by doctors — and doctors shouldn’t be forced to act, because no I don’t know if they will be sued.”
The protesters came from different political parties, but overwhelmingly supported Vice President Kamala Harris.
“As a black woman and a Republican, I know that advocating for women’s rights does not mean abandoning my values,” Nikki Walker told demonstrators gathered on the south steps of the Capitol building. “On the contrary, it means embracing the fullness of who we are and fighting for our dignity … we cannot allow political ideologies to dictate what happens to our bodies.”
“As long as there is maternal mortality, abortion is health care,” she said.
The magnitude of the opportunity to elect the nation’s first female president was palpable. According to the Center on American Women and Politics, Harris is second only to Hillary Clinton as the major party nominee for the nation’s highest executive office.
Caroline Gleich, who would be Utah’s first female senator if elected, said, “When we look at who’s at the highest level … you still see a lack of women, and we’re trying to change that.”
Gleich cited a Texas survey that found 21 percent of OB-GYNs “have considered or plan to leave Texas” because of new restrictions. With Utah ranked 45 out of 51 in the maternity workforce, per capita, according to the Commonwealth Fund, Gleich said implementing the Dobbs decision would “impact Utahns’ ability to access life-saving care for reproductive health’.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ruling that there was no constitutional right to abortion. This decision led to the implementation of the so-called “trigger law” in Utah, banning almost all abortions in the state.
We are much more alike than we are different. It should have nothing to do with red or blue.
– Taryn Hyatt
At the time of the decision, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox spoke to his “friends on the left” at a press conference, saying, “If you believe there’s real life out there — autonomous life — if that’s your belief, I’d do my best to fight for this life… I believe we all share some common beliefs that should help us understand differences of opinion.”
District Court Judge Andrew Stone issued an injunction against the law in July 2022, halting enforcement of the abortion ban after a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood claimed the law violated the Utah constitution. That ban was extended in August and remains in effect while the case is in court.
Congressman Brian King, the Democratic candidate for governor, said, speaking of a pregnancy loss in his family, “I was in the room when the doctor came in and said — I know you’re really excited about this … but they’re not going to survive.”
“We were left with some tough decisions, and we made those decisions together,” King said. “We have autonomy over the most personal, over the most consequential decisions in our lives—who we love, what we do about when we start a family, what decisions we make, when terrible things happen during pregnancy, we have to make a really hard choice about what life will be saved.
“These are things that should be left to women, they should be left to families, and that’s what I’m here to advocate for.”
As protesters climbed the massive incline to reach the capitol from their starting point in Washington Square, some onlookers leaned out of windows to applaud, while others drove by shouting that they were defying the signs. A chant repeated throughout the morning—we will not return—carried down the ranks of the marchers.
Latrisha Fall said women voters in Utah are in a tough spot.
“There’s a lot of expectations, whether it’s from culture, religion — there’s a lot of expectations,” she said. “It’s not easy for them, but I believe that when the issues are left up to the voters here in Utah, we always vote for people to have rights.”
For Olivia Jaramillo, a transgender woman, retired US Air Force veteran and immigrant from central Mexico, the demonstration was not about who was right and who was wrong, but about “winning hearts and minds.”
“It’s important to do this because when we stop seeing people as problems to solve, we start building bridges to understanding empathy, unity,” Jaramillo said. “Together we are creating a legacy of equality and unity that will resonate far beyond what we do today.”