Nationwide protests planned in response to leaked SCOTUS abortion ruling
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A coalition of progressive and reproductive rights groups are planning nationwide protests for abortion rights following the leaked SCOTUS draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.
The “Bans Off Our Bodies” day of action is set for May 14.
Events will be held in New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and hundreds of other cities.
Abortion rights activists are organizing large protests across the country following the bombshell leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion indicating plans to overturn the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade that protects the federal right to abortion.
A coalition of progressive and reproductive rights groups on Thursday announced plans to hold a “Bans Off Our Bodies” day of action on May 14 in cities nationwide to push back against the ruling laid out in the high court’s draft opinion that would effectively eliminate constitutional protections for abortion rights.
The “massive” day of action — which is being organized by leaders from Planned Parenthood, UltraViolet, Women’s March and MoveOn — will include four anchor marches in New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles and hundreds of demonstrations in other cities.
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In the hours following Politico’s release of a copy of the draft majority opinion Monday night, both anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court.
On Tuesday, a swell of demonstrators massed in front of the Supreme Court in opposition to the draft, and protests erupted in several other U.S. cities, including New York, Boston, Denver, San Francisco and St. Louis.
An eight-foot fence was installed Wednesday night around the Supreme Court amid ongoing protests.
“People are fired up. Within hours of this draft opinion coming out, a thousand people were on the steps of the Supreme Court. Then the next day, hundreds of thousands of people showed up in their communities at federal buildings and at the Supreme Court to protest this news,” Kelley Robinson, executive director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said.
“We’re expecting hundreds of thousands of folks in these anchor cities and still hundreds of events all across the country. So no matter where you are, there’s somewhere for you to go.”
Organizers said details of the day of action events are still being worked out but will be released shortly. Rachel Carmona, executive director of Women’s March, the group behind the unprecedented 2017 gender equality protest following the inauguration of former President Trump, said a rally will likely take place at 2 p.m. in D.C. and be followed by a march.
“We will be ungovernable until this government starts working for us. Until the attacks on our bodies let up. And until the right to an abortion is codified into law,” Carmona said Thursday.
“We will be sending this message loud and clear with a nationwide day of action.”
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