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

WASHINGTON, Might 14 (Reuters) - 1000's of abortion rights supporters rallied across america on Saturday, angered by the prospect that the Supreme Court 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 time of rage" ignited by the Could 2 disclosure of a draft opinion showing the court docket's conservative majority ready to reverse the 1973 ruling that established a girl's constitutional proper to terminate her being pregnant.

The courtroom's last ruling, which may 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 prohibit abortion almost immediately ought to Roe be struck down. read extra

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"If you can't choose whether you wish to have a child, if that's not a elementary proper, then I do not know what's," mentioned 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 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 help impress assist for his or her party and blunt projected Republican gains in 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 drizzle to march alongside the National Mall previous the U.S. Capitol to the Supreme Courtroom itself.

The rally erupted in shouts of "Disgrace" and "Bans off our 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 learn: "Finish abortion violence" and "Women's rights start within the womb."

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

The rally appeared to stay otherwise peaceful, although no less than one counter-protester was seen being escorted away by a security guard in Washington earlier within the day.

The mood was likewise energetic, and typically contentious, in New York City as thousands 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 take part in an illustration following the leaked Supreme Courtroom opinion suggesting the opportunity of overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision, in Washington, U.S., May 14, 2022. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud

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Police officers arrived to maintain house between the two teams as they traded taunts and vulgarities. The group 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, mentioned that the leaked Supreme Courtroom draft opinion "treats women as objects, as less than full human beings."

Malcolm DeCesare, a 34-year-old crucial care nurse who attended a Los Angeles rally beneath sunny skies, said abolishing the fitting to a legal abortion might put lives at risk as girls seek unsafe alternatives.

Celeb ladies's rights legal professional Gloria Allred advised the crowd about her personal "again alley abortion" as a young girl when she became pregnant from a rape at gunpoint earlier than Roe. "I almost died," she recounted. "I used to be 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 several 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's conservative majority would consider taking away the fitting to an abortion and "condemn ladies to this lesser status."

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 couple of dozen counter-protesters stood on a close-by sidewalk.

Holding an indication that learn, "Cease 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 only a small group, but his message was extra powerful," Marshall said.

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

Voters might be weighing a bunch of priorities such as inflation and may be skeptical of Democrats' ability to guard abortion entry after laws that will enshrine abortion rights in federal law failed. read extra

Many of those marching on Saturday expressed worry that rolling again abortion rights would result in an erosion of civil liberties generally.

"This is simply an affront to all the pieces I believe that we're presupposed to be about," Los Angeles musician Joel Altshuler, 73, said. "If a girl has no management over what will occur to her own body, then we're again in 1850 not 1950.

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

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