Thousands march in Chicago against Texas abortion ban, joining rallies across the nation
CHICAGO — About 2,000 protesters who crowded into Daley Plaza began marching Saturday afternoon during an abortion rights rally as American cities across the country planned a day of rallies against a recent abortion ban in Texas.
Chicago’s “Defend Abortion Access” event kicked off at noon and was expected to be one of Saturday’s largest reproductive rights events in Illinois, along with one in Springfield and followed by about two dozen others in the suburbs and elsewhere.
At least one of those in the Loop plaza by 11:30 a.m. was a man preaching anti-abortion messages and “what the Bible says.”
Another attendee, a 64-year-old woman named Peggy, said: “I wish there were more people here” when asked how she felt about the turnout.
Planned Parenthood of Illinois — along with about 19 other local activist and health care groups — organized the rallies in Chicago and Springfield.
Just about noon, others demonstators wearing red socialist T-shirts chanted: “Racist, sexist, anti-gay Christian bigots go away.”
Supporters, including Crystal Rosales, a Chicago Abortion Fund Storyteller, walked up to the mic, introduced themselves and described their experiences with their abortions.
Crystal said it was in Chicago she found out she was pregnant. “A baby deserves way more than I could give at that time, so I made the hardest decision of my life.” Chicago Abortion Fund Helpline offered her funds, and she said others deserve that too.
By 12:45 p.m. the plaza was nearly full and the crowd swelled to about 2,000 and around 1:15 p.m., they began marching south on Clark Street.
As they walked, a speaker chanted: “We won’t” and the crowd responded: “Go back.” Then, “My body” as the crowd replied: “My choice.”
As they approached Adams Street, marchers chanted: “2, 4, 6, 8, abortion rights in every state!”
The Texas law in question, Senate Bill 8, bans most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, when women often cannot tell they’re pregnant, and with no exceptions for rape or incest. The law also allows private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who “aids and abets” a procedure. The law went into effect at the start of September after the Supreme Court declined to block what then became the most restrictive abortion law in the country.
The measure is one of many so-called “heartbeat laws” passed in various states, which try to ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Other similar statutes, though, have been blocked by the courts, citing Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that established the right to terminate a pregnancy.
But many abortion rights activists fear other states might follow suit and attempt to pass more restrictive laws. A major reproductive rights case from Mississippi that could challenge Roe v. Wade will also be heard by the Supreme Court in December.
And though Illinois’ abortion rights are robust following measures such as the Reproductive Health Act in 2019, which established the “fundamental right” to terminate a pregnancy here, the same cannot be said of other places in the Midwest or the South. Local advocates for abortion rights predict a flood of additional women traveling across state lines to terminate their pregnancies in Illinois.
The Saturday events were planned to be held in concert with hundreds of similar marches and rallies planned in other cities around the country this weekend, including Rally for Abortion Justice in Washington, D.C., March for Reproductive Rights in Los Angeles and the Boston Rally to Defend Abortion.
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