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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Members of Boston Red Cloaks walked silently up the State House steps Thursday, carrying signs of protest.
They were dressed as characters from "A Handmaid's Tale," Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel set in a near-future America that has taken away womens' rights.
The ten quiet women had a loud message—that abortion rights are under attack nationally, and that Massachusetts needs to strengthen its laws.
"We're working hard to make sure that women's voices are heard in Massachusetts and across the country," protester Jesse Steigerwald told WBZ NewsRadio's Carl Stevens. "We're really very angry about what we see as an organized effort to restrict women's legal rights, constitutional rights."
Steigerwald was speaking of laws recently enacted in other states which restrict abortion rights. Alabama signed a near-total ban on abortions, and Mississippi, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, and Louisiana have signed so-called "heartbeat" bills.
The group, which says it supports voter registration, civic engagement, and action towards women's equality, was at the State House in support of a lobbying event organized by the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and NARAL.
"We've been around visiting Boston's significant historic places, because we think this is a historic time when people, men and women, really need to step forward," Steigerwald said. "You've got to leave your desk, leave your couch and come out if this is something you don't want to see slip away."
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WBZ NewsRadio's Carl Stevens (@carlwbz) reports