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

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - Thousands of abortion rights supporters rallied across the US on Saturday, angered by the prospect that the Supreme Court may soon 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 courtroom's conservative majority able to reverse the 1973 ruling that established a girl's constitutional proper to terminate her pregnancy.

The courtroom's final ruling, which might return the ability to ban abortion to state legislatures, is predicted in June. About half of the 50 states are poised to ban or severely limit abortion nearly immediately should Roe be struck down. read more

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"If you can't select whether you need to have a child, if that is not a fundamental proper, then I do not know what's," said Brita Van Rossum, 62, a landscape designer who traveled from suburban Philadelphia to affix 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 galvanize assist for his or her celebration and blunt projected Republican positive aspects in the November elections. read extra

The day's largest demonstration unfolded in Washington, where a crowd that organizers estimated at 20,000 folks massed at the Washington Monument and braved a light-weight drizzle to march along the Nationwide Mall previous the U.S. Capitol to the Supreme Courtroom 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 bunch of a few dozen counter-demonstrators holding indicators that read: "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 home!,” 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 some called out, “Bye, Roe v. Wade!”

The rally appeared to remain in any other case peaceable, although not less than one counter-protester was seen being escorted away by a safety guard in Washington earlier within the day.

The mood was likewise energetic, and generally contentious, in New York Metropolis as 1000's of abortion rights supporters crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, the place they had been confronted by a half dozen anti-abortion activists.

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

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Cops arrived to maintain space between the 2 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, stated that the leaked Supreme Courtroom 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 under sunny skies, mentioned abolishing the appropriate to a authorized abortion might put lives at risk as women seek unsafe alternatives.

Movie star ladies's rights lawyer Gloria Allred advised the group about her personal "again alley abortion" as a young lady when she turned pregnant from a rape at gunpoint earlier than Roe. "I virtually died," she recounted. "I used to be left in a tub in a pool of my own blood, hemorrhaging."

U.S. Consultant 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, told Reuters it was "horrible" that the Supreme Court's conservative majority would contemplate taking away the best to an abortion and "condemn ladies to this lesser status."

At an abortion rights protest in Atlanta, more than 400 people had assembled in a small park in entrance of the state capitol, while a couple of dozen counter-protesters stood on a nearby sidewalk.

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

"Jesus had only a small group, however his message was extra 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 will likely be weighing a bunch of priorities equivalent to inflation and may be skeptical of Democrats' potential to guard abortion entry after laws that will enshrine abortion rights in federal legislation failed. learn extra

A lot of those marching on Saturday expressed fear that rolling again abortion rights would lead to an erosion of civil liberties typically.

"That is just an affront to every thing I imagine that we're alleged to be about," Los Angeles musician Joel Altshuler, 73, stated. "If a girl has no control over what is going to occur to her personal physique, 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 Wealthy McKay in Atlanta; Writing by Ted Hesson and Steve Gorman; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Cynthia Osterman, Mark Porter and Grant McCool

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