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

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

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

The court's ultimate ruling, which could return the ability to ban abortion to state legislatures, is expected in June. About half of the 50 states are poised to ban or severely restrict abortion nearly immediately should Roe be struck down. read extra

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"If you can't select whether or not you need to have a baby, if that's not a elementary proper, then I don't know what's," said Brita Van Rossum, 62, a landscape designer who traveled from suburban Philadelphia to hitch the abortion-rights rally in 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 concern that Democrats hope will help provoke help for their celebration and blunt projected Republican gains in the November elections. read extra

The day's largest demonstration unfolded in Washington, where a crowd that organizers estimated at 20,000 people massed at 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 group of some dozen counter-demonstrators holding indicators that learn: "Finish abortion violence" and "Ladies's rights start in the womb."

The encounter between the two sides grew tense at occasions. Abortion rights protesters shouted, “Go dwelling!,” and one man whacked a counter-demonstrator in the head along with his poster after profanities have been exchanged. Because the-anti abortion protesters left, they waved at the crowd, and some known as out, “Bye, Roe v. Wade!”

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

The mood was likewise energetic, and sometimes contentious, in New York City as hundreds 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 docket opinion suggesting the potential of overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights choice, in Washington, U.S., Might 14, 2022. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud

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Cops arrived to maintain house between the 2 teams as they traded taunts and vulgarities. The group thinned out in early afternoon as rain fell over the 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 ladies as objects, as less than full human beings."

Malcolm DeCesare, a 34-year-old critical care nurse who attended a Los Angeles rally beneath sunny skies, mentioned abolishing the right to a authorized abortion may put lives at risk as women seek unsafe alternate options.

Superstar women's rights legal professional Gloria Allred instructed the gang about her own "again alley abortion" as a younger girl when she became pregnant from a rape at gunpoint earlier than Roe. "I virtually died," she recounted. "I used to be left in a bathtub in a pool of my own blood, hemorrhaging."

U.S. Consultant 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, instructed Reuters it was "horrible" that the Supreme Courtroom's conservative majority would consider taking away the best to an abortion and "condemn girls to this lesser status."

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 nearby sidewalk.

Holding a sign that read, "Cease Little one Sacrifice," 23-year-old Bria Marshall, a latest public health graduate from Kennesaw State College, acknowledged her group's smaller turnout.

"Jesus had only a small group, however his message was extra powerful," Marshall mentioned.

While 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 likely be weighing a bunch of priorities equivalent to inflation and could also be skeptical of Democrats' capability to protect abortion access after laws that might enshrine abortion rights in federal regulation failed. read extra

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

"That is simply an affront to the whole lot I imagine that we're imagined to be about," Los Angeles musician Joel Altshuler, 73, stated. "If a lady has no control over what's going to occur to her own physique, then we're back in 1850 not 1950.

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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; Enhancing by Colleen Jenkins, Cynthia Osterman, Mark Porter and Grant McCool

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Rules.