Anti-abortion protesters rally across the United States after Project Roe v. wade
WASHINGTON- Anguish and anger erupted across the country on Tuesday as abortion rights advocates began flooding the streets, from Supreme Court marches in New York, Nevada, Texas and California, to protesting the land’s highest court’s potential decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. .
While abortion rights groups have warned of the impending decision that would allow states to ban abortions without exception, the leak Monday night of a draft opinion backed by a majority of judges has galvanized fear and frustration, and protesters raised their voices.
In addition to the nationwide scattered protests, organizers of the Women’s March, a global protest held the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017, called on abortion rights supporters to rally outside federal courthouses and other government buildings.
At 5 p.m., the size and energy of the abortion rights crowd increased dramatically as organizers handed out signs and led chants, including “my body,” my choice,” and “pro-life is a lie, you don’t care if people die. ”
George Washington University freshmen Ellie Small, 19, and Emma Hearns, 18, took a break from their studies for the finals earlier in the day and raised their concerns in front of the Supreme Court.
“We’re here because it’s a really scary time to be a young woman,” Small said.
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Demonstrations also took place in Denver and Reno, Nevada, where protesters gathered outside a downtown federal courthouse. There, Rosie Gully, a regional NARAL Pro-Choice organizer, managed to get hoarse before she even officially launched the “Rally to Restore Roe.”
“There are going to be streams of people seeking care,” Gully told a few dozen supporters outside the courthouse and the Bruce R. Thompson Federal Building. “And we have an election coming up that will decide whether we can retain that right to choose.”
Sonya Giroux, a 51-year-old mother from Reno, was less diplomatic.
“I’m really getting fed up with this bull—-,” Giroux shouted through a megaphone. “Make your voice heard and continue the fight! It’s really important.
In Quincy, Massachusetts, a large group of abortion rights protesters gathered outside City Hall.
Anne Meyerson of Quincy stood with a sign carrying a hanger that read, “We’ll never go back.” She said her stepfather was orphaned as a young boy when her mother died from an illegal and unsafe abortion.
“People forget what it was,” Meyerson said. “Fifty years later, I never would have thought we had to have that fight again.”
Social media posts circulating said protests were planned near the Texas State Capitol in Austin, the US Courthouse in Los Angeles and the US Courthouse in Chicago.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll released Tuesday found that a majority of Americans support the Supreme Court upholding Roe v. Wade. The poll, taken last week, found that 54% of Americans support keeping Roe, while 28% support scrapping it. The poll revealed that 18% had no opinion.
About 49% of the nation said abortion should be “legal and accessible” in the USA TODAY/Ipsos poll released this month. Only about a third of Republicans agree, compared to 73% of Democrats.
The Roe decision in 1973 found that laws criminalizing abortions violated the Fourteenth Amendment. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey reaffirmed the rights affirmed in the Roe decision and changed the standards of abortion laws.
‘Crying all morning’: Protesters gather outside Supreme Court
In Washington, Jen Miller, 37, stood in silence as she gave the nation’s highest court the middle finger. “It just makes me feel better,” she said.
Calling the leaked Supreme Court document a “poor opinion,” Miller said she hoped the news would encourage Democrats to fight back — first by “bombing” the filibuster and passing legislation to protect the abortion. “I want the Democrats to do their fucking job,” Miller added.
Mary Skinner, a 23-year-old TikToker with more than 1.4 million followers, joined others at the Supreme Court protest after “crying all morning”, she said.
“We are so heartbroken, disgusted and shocked,” Skinner said. “Perhaps we shouldn’t be shocked. But we are, and since we’re local, I mean, you have no choice but to hang out.
Skinner said she attended the first Women’s March in college and left full of hope. But five years later, “it’s kind of worse,” she said.
Small, one of George Washington’s students, said she felt it was also important for people to protest in their home countries. Hearns said her motivation was to raise awareness that removing federal abortion protections could disenfranchise others as well.
“It’s really scary to me that (anti-abortion activists) don’t understand that taking away abortion takes away so many rights and so many things from women and other people who have wombs,” Hearns said.
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Michelle Xai traveled from New York via Los Angeles with Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, joining the protest outside the Supreme Court, where police erected barricades to prevent people from approaching the building itself.
“We can’t just sit down. Now is the time to take to the streets,” Xai said.
Songs such as “This Is America” played as crowds and a growing number of officers from multiple law enforcement agencies thronged, waiting for a march until Tuesday evening.
Earlier in the day, anti-abortion activist Kristin Monahan, 30, protested outside the building. Describing herself as a feminist, a leftist and an atheist, she was part of the vocal crowd supporting the ban on abortion.
“I already feel like this makes more sense for people who support pro-peace values - anti-war, vegan, anti-death penalty – it makes more sense for people like that to be against the abortion, because abortion is violence, and it is the slaughter of young human beings,” Monahan said.
Others agreed, calling on states to have the right to make such decisions.
“Abortion is an oppression,” Maggie Donica, 21, said through a megaphone. Although she describes herself as anti-abortion, Donica said her main reason for protesting was to give states back the right to decide on abortion.
To overthrow Roe “is a statement of neutrality,” she said. “It gives the states back the right to make their decisions.”
Contributors: Chelsey Cox, N’dea Yancey-Bragg, Ella Lee, USA TODAY, James DeHaven, Reno Gazette-Journal
USA Today
