Thousands in U.S. march underneath ‘Ban Off Our Our bodies’ banner for abortion rights

WASHINGTON, Might 14 (Reuters) - Hundreds of abortion rights supporters rallied throughout america on Saturday, angered by the prospect that the Supreme Court docket might soon overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion nationwide a half century ago.

The protests kicked off what organizers predict will be a "summer of rage" ignited by the Could 2 disclosure of a draft opinion displaying the court's conservative majority able to reverse the 1973 ruling that established a girl's constitutional proper to terminate her pregnancy.

The court's remaining ruling, which could return the facility to ban abortion to state legislatures, is expected in June. About half of the 50 states are poised to ban or severely prohibit abortion nearly immediately ought to Roe be struck down. learn more

Register

"If you cannot select whether you want to have a child, if that is not a basic right, then I don't know what's," said Brita Van Rossum, 62, a panorama designer who traveled from suburban Philadelphia to affix the abortion-rights rally within the nation's capital, her first ever.

Protesters marching underneath the slogan "Bans Off Our Our bodies" took to the streets from New York and Atlanta to Chicago and Los Angeles in a present of shock that Democrats hope will assist impress assist for his or her party and blunt projected Republican gains within the November elections. learn more

The day's largest demonstration unfolded in Washington, the place a crowd that organizers estimated at 20,000 people massed on the Washington Monument and braved a light-weight drizzle to march alongside the National Mall past the U.S. Capitol to the Supreme Court docket itself.

The rally erupted in shouts of "Disgrace" and "Bans off our bodies" as the marchers neared the marbled columns of the courthouse.

Surrounded by police was a bunch of some dozen counter-demonstrators holding indicators that learn: "End abortion violence" and "Girls's rights start within the womb."

The encounter between the 2 sides grew tense at instances. Abortion rights protesters shouted, “Go house!,” and one man whacked a counter-demonstrator within the head along with his poster after profanities were exchanged. As the-anti abortion protesters left, they waved at the crowd, and some called out, “Bye, Roe v. Wade!”

The rally appeared to remain otherwise peaceful, although at the least one counter-protester was seen being escorted away by a safety guard in Washington earlier in the day.

The temper was likewise energetic, and typically contentious, in New York City as 1000's of abortion rights supporters crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, the place they have been confronted by a half dozen anti-abortion activists.

Abortion rights campaigners participate in a demonstration following the leaked Supreme Court opinion suggesting the opportunity of overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights choice, in Washington, U.S., Could 14, 2022. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud

Read Extra

Law enforcement officials arrived to take care of house between the 2 groups as they traded taunts and vulgarities. The gang thinned out in early afternoon as rain fell over the city.

Elizabeth Holtzman, an 80-year-old former congresswoman who represented New York from 1973 to 1981, stated that the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion "treats girls as objects, as lower than full human beings."

Malcolm DeCesare, a 34-year-old crucial care nurse who attended a Los Angeles rally below sunny skies, mentioned abolishing the precise to a authorized abortion may put lives at risk as women search unsafe options.

Celeb women's rights attorney Gloria Allred instructed the group about her personal "again alley abortion" as a younger girl when she grew to become pregnant from a rape at gunpoint earlier than Roe. "I virtually died," she recounted. "I used to be left in a tub in a pool of my very own blood, hemorrhaging."

U.S. Consultant Sean Casten and his 15-year-old daughter, Audrey, were among several thousand abortion rights supporters who gathered at a park in Chicago.

Casten, whose district consists of Chicago's western suburbs, told Reuters it was "horrible" that the Supreme Court docket's conservative majority would consider taking away the fitting to an abortion and "condemn women to this lesser standing."

At an abortion rights protest in Atlanta, more than 400 individuals had assembled in a small park in entrance of the state capitol, while a few dozen counter-protesters stood on a close-by sidewalk.

Holding a sign that read, "Stop Child Sacrifice," 23-year-old Bria Marshall, a recent public well being graduate from Kennesaw State University, acknowledged her group's smaller turnout.

"Jesus had just a small group, but his message was more highly effective," Marshall mentioned.

Whereas the Supreme Court leak thrust abortion again to the forefront of U.S. politics, it was unclear how the issue will play out within the coming elections.

Voters shall be weighing a number of priorities comparable to inflation and may be skeptical of Democrats' capability to guard abortion entry after legislation that would enshrine abortion rights in federal law failed. learn more

Lots of those marching on Saturday expressed worry that rolling back abortion rights would lead to an erosion of civil liberties typically.

"That is just an affront to every part I imagine that we're supposed to be about," Los Angeles musician Joel Altshuler, 73, said. "If a girl has no management over what will happen to her own body, then we're back in 1850 not 1950.

Register

Reporting by Gabriella Borter in Washington; Additional reporting by Eric Cox in Chicago, Maria Caspani in New York, Costas Pitas in Los Angeles and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Writing by Ted Hesson and Steve Gorman; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Cynthia Osterman, Mark Porter and Grant McCool

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.