Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio- Hundreds of women and their supporters rallied outside of the Cuyahoga County Administration Building in downtown Cleveland on Tues, June 28 and then marched through the streets to Cleveland City Hall, an event hosted by Women's March Cleveland as a continuation of  rallies since Fri, June 24 when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision overturning Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that made abortion legal nationwide.

The regularly scheduled county council meeting had been canceled due to the protest, meetings set ordinarily for the first and fourth Tuesday of each month, But activists said that they would return on Tues, July 5  for another rally in front of the county administration building, and that at that time they plan to speak before the 11-member county council.

"You can run but you can't hide," said head Women's  March Cleveland organizer Kathy Wray Coleman regarding the cancellation of Tuesday's county council meeting, Coleman and the other activists who spoke also demanding that County Executive Armond Budish and county council speak out for abortion access for women in Cleveland and in Ohio.

Coleman told reporters at the rally that activists are pleased that County Prosecutor Mike O'Malley has pledged not to prosecute women over the recent abortion law restrictions, including the heartbeat bill in Ohio, and that activists urge every county prosecutor in America to follow his lead."

Activists said that the public officials who represent them on city and county council should aggressively take on Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican seeking reelection who has vowed to do everything in his power to outlaw abortion in Ohio.

The marchers also chanted "hey hey ho ho Mike DeWine has got to go" on the steps of City Hall.

While the U.S. Supreme Court last week reversed Roe v Wade in a Jackson Mississippi case dubbed Jackson vs Mississippi Health Organization as to a state law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, it also noted that state legislatures across the country would have authority to regulate and readily outlaw abortion in respective states.

Also at issue during the rally was the proposed county budget that includes a possible $4 million to enhance a gulf course in suburban Parma while Black women continue to get raped and murdered in droves, and with no additional resources allocated to seek to tame the problem, activists said.

Activists took on  Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin and city and county council for what they say is the misappropriation of funds for corporate and other frivolous projects coupled with the lack of necessary funds for inner city neighborhoods and the  Cleveland Rape Crisis Center and the Journey Center for Safety and Healing.

Race came up at the rally with one participant saying racism doesn't exist anymore, and particularly with respect to women's reproductive rights.

"Racism continues to be a problem," said activist Alysa Cooper, a young activist who helped Coleman organize Tuesday's event in Cleveland.

Coleman told rally participants that racism is the inequitable distribution of resources by the majority power structure and that allocating county resources for a gulf course in Parma while Black women of Cleveland are disproportionately raped and murdered with nothing being done to address the growing epidemic is a prime example of alleged racism by county council.

Activists also complained that  women's issues are not in the budget for county council or city council during a crisis period for women in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, a Democratic stronghold and Ohio's second largest county.