Perhaps the most well-known Abolition Day Rally clip to-date is Pastor Dusty Deevers' epic "laws to murder babies are written here" speech in which he pointed at the capitol while decrying the iniquity of Oklahoma's pro-life compromises. Across all platforms, the epic speech has more than 200,000 views and has inspired countless abolitionists to repent of apathy and join the battle.
This year, Deevers will once again be speaking at the Abolition Day Rally, only this time as Senator Deevers and the author of SB1729, the Abolition of Abortion Act.
With the momentum from his election in December, it is critical that abolitionists show up to the capitol en masse to demonstrate that we did not send Deevers to OKC for him and abolitionist Senator Warren Hamilton to be ignored. We need to show the Republican establishment that Deevers and Hamilton are not alone. We need to demonstrate that the people demand abortion be abolished and that we won't go away until it is.
- WHAT: Abolition Day Rally 2024
- WHEN: Tuesday, February 6th at 10AM
- WHERE: Oklahoma State Capitol South Plaza (2300 N Lincoln Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73105)
- WHAT: The rally will begin outside with featured speeches from Senator Deevers, Senator Hamilton, T. Russell Hunter, Bill Ascol, and other abolitionist leaders. We will then go into the Capitol to speak with our legislators.
Rallies are a critical element of successful movements. Most politicians will not be scared by a phone call or two. But if 30 constituents are regularly knocking their office door and filling up their email inbox, they will take notice. Even more so if we show up with 1,000 people!
In 2021, two non-abolitionist Senators voted in favor of the abolition bill on the Senate floor due primarily to constituent lobbying the morning of the vote. One of the two was persuaded to support the bill by his then-constituent Dusty Deevers.
For these reasons, Abolition Day has been an important and impactful annual tradition for the Abolitionist Movement in Oklahoma. Senator Jospeh Silk filed the first abolition bill in 2016. But it was not until 2019 with the advent of Abolition Day and organized abolitionist lobbying that we got any traction in the legislature or media attention. Before Abolition Day, Silk's bill was quietly ignored for three years.
The 2019 rally was abolitionists announcing our arrival on the Oklahoma legislative scene.
The four rallies since have been us announcing that we are here to stay.
Rallies make a difference. One regard in which we need to make a difference is educating our legislators that abortion has not been abolished. Just a few days ago, an abolitionist shared a flight with Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt. The abolitionist pleaded with Stitt to abolish abortion, to which Stitt responded that he already had.
While the news reports and the word inside the capitol may be that abortion is over just because the clinics have closed down, the opposite is true. It is easier and cheaper than ever to get an abortion in Oklahoma. If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch this video.
This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. We need each person reading this to do everything you can to get as many people to the capitol for Abolition Day on February 6th; to show your support for Deevers, Hamilton, and SB1729; to make your voice heard for vulnerable preborn children and the abolition of abortion.
