Submitted ArtThe #ProWomen Life Walk and Rally started as a Facebook event between 20 people and has grown to potentially having more than 100 people at the event Saturday afternoon.

VALDOSTA — Several communities in Georgia are speaking out against the recently approved “heartbeat bill.”

Come this Saturday, Valdosta will be one of those communities.

People in hot pink T-shirts will meet downtown to protest the new law and show support to the women who will be affected by it come 2020, organizers said.

The #ProWomen Life Walk and Rally is scheduled for 1-3 p.m. Saturday, June 1; it started with a Facebook invite to 20 friends from Malory Gunter.

Now, it’s possible more than 100 people could show up, according to the Facebook invite.

“I didn’t expect this much support coming from a rural area like Valdosta,” Gunter said. “There are a lot of conservative people, and I didn’t feel like a lot of people would be able to relate to this issue.”

Gunter had permits approved for all the main streets in Downtown Valdosta as well as the historic Lowndes County Courthouse, where she is asking people to meet to participate.

Water will be provided and Gunter asks participants bring appropriate signs to voice their opinions. There will be voter registration cards available for people to fill out.

Gunter describes herself as a humanitarian — she supports all humans’ rights, she said.

In the case of the “heartbeat bill,” which is actually called the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, Gunter is showing her support of women, particularly those who will be affected by the new law.

“I personally have friends and family who have had abortions,” Gunter said. “Just because someone has an abortion, it does not make them a bad person. Also, banning abortion is dangerous because it is not going to stop abortions from happening.”

A mother of three who has always had family and friends’ support, she said her heart especially goes out to single mothers living in impoverished situations who will no longer have the option to terminate their pregnancies.

“For women who are single mothers and are paying $170 a week for one child, I don’t know how they’re surviving,” Gunter said. “A lot of people don’t have support. We shouldn’t take away their rights, we should be giving them more rights — they’re already struggling.”

The bill was signed into law in early May by Gov. Brian Kemp and bans abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, or when a heartbeat can be detected. 

Gunter said most women don’t know they’re even pregnant at that point, essentially making the bill an outright ban on abortions.

The bill outlines that doctors who perform an abortion – and potentially women who get an abortion – could face felony charges.

The bill could find itself being challenged in court, but Georgia residents, out-of-state politicians and even the movie industry have spoken out against or pulled financial support from the state in response to the heartbeat bill.

Similar protests have taken place in Atlanta, Savannah and other cities outside of Georgia.

“As a woman, we are being viewed as property of the government and not as people with fundamental rights of privacy and health care,” Gunter said.

2:00 P.M. Update: Gunter’s name was corrected throughout story.

Katelyn Umholtz is a reporter with the Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256.