Hundreds in U.S. march below ‘Ban Off Our Bodies’ banner for abortion rights

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

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

The court's remaining ruling, which might return the facility to ban abortion to state legislatures, is predicted in June. About half of the 50 states are poised to ban or severely limit abortion almost immediately should Roe be struck down. read extra

Register

"If you cannot choose whether or not you want to have a child, if that is not a fundamental proper, then I do not know what is," said Brita Van Rossum, 62, a landscape designer who traveled from suburban Philadelphia to affix the abortion-rights rally within the nation's capital, her first ever.

Protesters marching beneath 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 impress help for their celebration and blunt projected Republican good points in the November elections. read extra

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 lightweight drizzle to march along the National Mall past the U.S. Capitol to the Supreme Court itself.

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

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

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

The rally appeared to stay in any other case 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 generally contentious, in New York City as hundreds of abortion rights supporters crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, where 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 potential for overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights resolution, in Washington, U.S., May 14, 2022. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud

Read Extra

Police officers arrived to take care of space between the two teams as they traded taunts and vulgarities. The gang 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, mentioned that the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion "treats girls as objects, as lower 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 suitable to a legal abortion could put lives at risk as women search unsafe options.

Celeb women's rights attorney Gloria Allred told the group about her own "back alley abortion" as a young lady when she grew to become pregnant from a rape at gunpoint before Roe. "I virtually died," she recounted. "I used to be left in a tub in a pool of my own blood, hemorrhaging."

U.S. Representative Sean Casten and his 15-year-old daughter, Audrey, have been among 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 docket's conservative majority would consider taking away the appropriate 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 entrance of the state capitol, whereas a few dozen counter-protesters stood on a nearby sidewalk.

Holding an indication that learn, "Stop Baby Sacrifice," 23-year-old Bria Marshall, a current public well being graduate from Kennesaw State University, acknowledged her group's smaller turnout.

"Jesus had only a small group, however his message was more powerful," Marshall said.

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 can be weighing a bunch of priorities such as inflation and could also be skeptical of Democrats' ability to protect abortion access after laws that may enshrine abortion rights in federal legislation failed. read extra

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

"This is just an affront to everything I imagine that we're purported to be about," Los Angeles musician Joel Altshuler, 73, mentioned. "If a girl has no control over what's going to occur to her own physique, then we're again in 1850 not 1950.

Register

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

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.