1000’s in U.S. march beneath ‘Ban Off Our Our bodies’ banner for abortion rights

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

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

The courtroom's ultimate ruling, which might return the power to ban abortion to state legislatures, is expected in June. About half of the 50 states are poised to ban or severely prohibit abortion virtually instantly ought to Roe be struck down. learn extra

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"If you can't choose whether you need to have a baby, if that is not a basic right, then I don't know what's," mentioned Brita Van Rossum, 62, a landscape designer who traveled from suburban Philadelphia to join the abortion-rights rally within the nation's capital, her first ever.

Protesters marching underneath the slogan "Bans Off Our Bodies" took to the streets from New York and Atlanta to Chicago and Los Angeles in a present of concern that Democrats hope will help provoke assist for their get together and blunt projected Republican positive aspects within the November elections. read 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 drizzle to march alongside the National Mall past the U.S. Capitol to the Supreme Court itself.

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

Surrounded by police was a group of a few dozen counter-demonstrators holding signs that read: "End abortion violence" and "Women's rights begin in the womb."

The encounter between the 2 sides grew tense at instances. Abortion rights protesters shouted, “Go home!,” and one man whacked a counter-demonstrator in the head together with his poster after profanities had been exchanged. As the-anti abortion protesters left, they waved on the crowd, and a few known as out, “Bye, Roe v. Wade!”

The rally appeared to stay in any other case peaceable, although at least one counter-protester was seen being escorted away by a safety guard in Washington earlier within the day.

The temper was likewise energetic, and sometimes contentious, in New York Metropolis as 1000's of abortion rights supporters crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, where they were confronted by a half dozen anti-abortion activists.

Abortion rights campaigners participate in an illustration following the leaked Supreme Court opinion suggesting the potential of overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision, in Washington, U.S., May 14, 2022. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud

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Law enforcement officials arrived to keep up space between the 2 teams as they traded taunts and vulgarities. The crowd thinned out in early afternoon as rain fell over town.

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 women as objects, as less than full human beings."

Malcolm DeCesare, a 34-year-old important care nurse who attended a Los Angeles rally underneath sunny skies, said abolishing the suitable to a legal abortion might put lives at risk as girls search unsafe alternate options.

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

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

Casten, whose district contains Chicago's western suburbs, informed Reuters it was "horrible" that the Supreme Court docket's conservative majority would take into account taking away the right to an abortion and "condemn women to this lesser standing."

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

Holding a sign that learn, "Stop Youngster Sacrifice," 23-year-old Bria Marshall, a current public health graduate from Kennesaw State College, acknowledged her group's smaller turnout.

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

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

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

Lots of these marching on Saturday expressed concern that rolling again abortion rights would lead to an erosion of civil liberties usually.

"This is simply an affront to the whole lot I imagine that we're purported to be about," Los Angeles musician Joel Altshuler, 73, mentioned. "If a lady has no control over what's going to occur to her personal body, then we're again in 1850 not 1950.

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Reporting by Gabriella Borter in Washington; Extra 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; Enhancing by Colleen Jenkins, Cynthia Osterman, Mark Porter and Grant McCool

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Rules.