WAPPINGERS FALLS – Seven members of OfdonNY Handmaids, a women’s rights activist group inspired by the novel and TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” stood near the intersection of Routes 9 and 9D in Wappingers Falls on Sunday to protest the US Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
The protest coincided with the Unite for Justice Day of Action, which took place this weekend across to country
Protests across the country this weekend came days before the start of hearings on President Trump’s latest Supreme Court pick. Although not an official event for the nationwide protest, it resonates nonetheless for the women involved.
OfdonNY Organizer Gina Van Nosdall shared her reasons for starting the group and for the protest.
“We’ve been watching what’s been going on for the last year-and-a-half in the Trump administration and we don’t like it,” she said. “We’re here now because we’re concerned about the Kavanaugh nomination.”
Van Nosdall read “The Handmaid’s Tale” in 1985, the year it was released, but believes the Margaret Atwood dystopian tale is more relevant today than ever before. “I put the book away and thought ‘that would never happen,’” she said, “but here we are in 2018 and we’re here because we do not want that to happen. Even if it does, we know we stood up and did not go silently.”
The women dressed up as handmaids from the Hulu TV series and stood with their faces down as drivers either honked in support or yelled out their car window in opposition.
Since its release last year, “The Handmaid’s Tale” TV series has had a swift impact on women’s rights in the U.S. The Emmy-winning show has inspired similar protests across the country from groups such as Planned Parenthood.
Kavanaugh, meanwhile, is being chastised by women’s groups in particular for his record on reproductive rights. While not openly stating that he wants landmark decision Roe v. Wade to be repealed, he has ruled against a teenage undocumented detainee’s right to have an abortion as a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. He has also argued that President Obama’s healthcare policy guaranteeing birth control to all women who need it infringes on the rights of religious groups.
His Supreme Court confirmation hearings are expected to begin on September 4.
