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

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - 1000's of abortion rights supporters rallied throughout the USA on Saturday, angered by the prospect that the Supreme Court might quickly overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion nationwide a half century ago.

The protests kicked off what organizers predict will probably be a "summer of rage" ignited by the May 2 disclosure of a draft opinion showing the court's conservative majority ready to reverse the 1973 ruling that established a woman's constitutional right to terminate her being pregnant.

The courtroom's final 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 restrict abortion virtually instantly should Roe be struck down. learn more

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"If you can't select whether or not you want to have a baby, if that is not a basic proper, 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 under 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 help provoke support for their party and blunt projected Republican positive aspects within the November elections. learn more

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

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

Surrounded by police was a gaggle of a few dozen counter-demonstrators holding indicators that learn: "End abortion violence" and "Women's rights begin within the womb."

The encounter between the 2 sides grew tense at occasions. Abortion rights protesters shouted, “Go residence!,” 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 on the crowd, and some known as out, “Bye, Roe v. Wade!”

The rally appeared to remain otherwise peaceful, although not less than one counter-protester was seen being escorted away by a security guard in Washington earlier in the day.

The mood was likewise energetic, and sometimes contentious, in New York City as thousands of abortion rights supporters crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, the place they were confronted by a half dozen anti-abortion activists.

Abortion rights campaigners take part in an illustration following the leaked Supreme Courtroom opinion suggesting the possibility of overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights resolution, in Washington, U.S., Might 14, 2022. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud

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Cops arrived to keep up 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 women as objects, as lower than full human beings."

Malcolm DeCesare, a 34-year-old critical care nurse who attended a Los Angeles rally under sunny skies, stated abolishing the correct to a legal abortion could put lives at risk as girls seek unsafe alternate options.

Superstar women's rights lawyer Gloria Allred advised the crowd about her personal "back alley abortion" as a young woman when she turned pregnant from a rape at gunpoint earlier than Roe. "I virtually died," she recounted. "I was left in a bath in a pool of my own blood, hemorrhaging."

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

Casten, whose district includes Chicago's western suburbs, informed Reuters it was "horrible" that the Supreme Court's conservative majority would contemplate taking away the precise to an abortion and "condemn ladies to this lesser status."

At an abortion rights protest in Atlanta, more than 400 folks 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 an indication that learn, "Stop Baby Sacrifice," 23-year-old Bria Marshall, a recent public well being graduate from Kennesaw State College, acknowledged her group's smaller turnout.

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

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

Voters will probably be weighing a host of priorities equivalent to inflation and may be skeptical of Democrats' ability to guard abortion entry after laws that may enshrine abortion rights in federal law failed. learn extra

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

"That is simply an affront to every thing I believe that we're presupposed to be about," Los Angeles musician Joel Altshuler, 73, stated. "If a lady has no management over what will happen to her personal physique, then we're back 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 Wealthy McKay in Atlanta; Writing by Ted Hesson and Steve Gorman; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Cynthia Osterman, Mark Porter and Grant McCool

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.