WILMINGTON — Caroline Lemley woke up on June 24, 2022, and started her day like she always did: catching up on the latest headlines. Her heart sank when she read a breaking news story: the nearly 50-year ruling known as Roe v. Wade had been overturned by a conservative majority Supreme Court.
The impact of the court overturning Roe v. Wade — a ruling from 1973 that women in the United States have the right to make a choice between keeping or terminating a pregnancy — was immediate. Various “trigger bans” for abortion went into effect in multiple states, and North Carolina soon became the only state in the American Southeast with abortion access up to 24 weeks.
“I remember looking at my phone, and just feeling angry,” she said. “After those initial feelings settled, I knew I wanted to do something about it.”
Lemley and her roommate came up with an idea to hold a yard sale to raise money to donate to Planned Parenthood — a nonprofit clinic which provides reproductive healthcare, sex education and resources. That yard sale, however, grew into a successful fundraising event called “Public Cervix Announcement,” complete with vendors, a yard sale and a concert at Hi-Wire Brewing in Wilmington.
Last year’s event raised around $10,000 for Planned Parenthood, and in light of North Carolina’s newest abortion ban after 12 weeks gestation, Public Cervix Announcement will be making a return to Hi-Wire Brewing Aug. 5.
Lemley said she was concerned about Planned Parenthood’s ability to exist in a post-Roe world, specifically regarding its services other than abortions.
Abortions only account for four percent of all of the services Planned Parenthood provides — 49 percent of patients sought out STI testing and treatment, 26 percent received contraceptives, five percent accounted for cancer screenings and 12 percent received other reproductive healthcare services.
“People don’t realize just how important Planned Parenthood is to the community,” Lemley said. “They do way more than just abortions — they provide healthcare to people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it.”
This year’s event is going to be bigger and better, according to Lemley — with twice the amount of vendors and even more donations for the yard sale, she hopes to exceed last year’s funds raised.
Wilmington-based band Ridgewood performed at the inaugural Public Cervix Announcement fundraiser and are making a return to the stage this year. Lead singer Elliot Standford said Lemley, who lives with the band, approached him about doing the event last year.
“[She] was inspired to help Planned Parenthood in the community after a lot of the new legislation and press going on around it,” Standford said. “Planned Parenthood is so important … the way we can help is to go play this show and to talk about it, make noise about it, because that’s what we do best as musicians.
“I think that’s a responsibility we have as people who perform – to advocate for things that we believe in.”
Ridgewood bassist Matt Dauphin said he feels it’s necessary to use the stage as a platform to advocate for important causes and organizations, such as Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights.
“When we’re playing shows, people are looking at us, we have microphones in front of us, we have more eyes on us than maybe the average person does,” he said. “No matter how big or small that platform is, it would be a waste not to use it to talk about our values. Punk rock is political — punk rock has always been political. It’s progressive music, and we align with that completely philosophically.”
Ridgewood drummer Bennett Hair said Ridgewood’s participation in Public Cervix Announcement was a no-brainer.
“I just feel like it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “It’s literally the best of both worlds — we get to do what we absolutely love to do the most, and help people at the same time.”
Ridgewood will be joined by two other Wilmington-based groups — Doggy Daycare and Huggin Molly.
Belle Ballard, the frontwoman of Huggin Molly, said when she was approached by Standford about playing in the concert part of the fundraiser, she didn’t hesitate to accept.
“Our goal as a band is to have fun, do our music and just represent who we are as people and what we believe in,” Ballard explains. “With this specific show, I didn’t have to think twice about it. We don’t have a huge following, but whatever we can do to support it, we’ll do.”
Doggy Daycare lead guitarist Joshua Sullivan said while he wasn’t directly impacted by the overturning of Roe v. Wade, he felt a sense of urgency and frustration.
“Even as a dude, there’s a vicarious anger that you have on behalf of the people who are affected by the rulings and stuff, the people who need Planned Parenthood,” he offers. “We’ve been pretty outspoken politically as a band already, and I’ve gotten in a little bit of trouble for it. It’s cool to actually use our voices to raise money and not just agitate people.”
Doggy Daycare lead vocalist Adam Bastug said he has always felt connected to women’s rights issues, and in a post-Roe world, he wants to sound the alarm on other groups’ rights being targeted.
“As a queer person myself, I have always aligned with women’s issues, and seen women’s issues as queer issues because at the end of the day … we’re all fighting for the same thing,” he says. “That’s what this event is about — just getting people together for a good cause.”