Across US, Women March for Abortion Rights

Demonstrators take their message to the Supreme Court
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 2, 2021 3:10 PM CDT
Across US, Women March for Abortion Rights
With the US Capitol in the background, demonstrators march Saturday on Pennsylvania Avenue during the Women's March in Washington.   (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

The first Women's March of the Biden administration headed straight for the steps of the Supreme Court on Saturday, part of nationwide protests demanding continued access to abortion in a year when lawmakers and judges have put it in jeopardy. Thousands filled the streets surrounding the court, shouting "My body, my choice" and cheering loudly to the beat of drums, the AP reports. Many waved signs that said "Mind your own uterus," "I love someone who had an abortion" and "Abortion is a personal choice, not a legal debate," among other messages. Some wore T-shirts reading simply "1973, a reference to the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal.

Elaine Baijal, a 19-year-old student at American University, took cellphone photos with her friends and their signs. She said her mother told her of coming to a march for legal abortion with her own mother in the 1970s. "It's sad that we still have to fight for our right 40 years later," Baijal said. Organizers said hundreds of abortion-themed protests were planned around the country Saturday. The Supreme Court starts a new term on Monday that will decide the future of abortion rights in the US. On Friday, the Biden administration urged a federal judge to block the nation's most restrictive abortion law, which has banned most abortions in Texas. The Texas law motivated many of the demonstrators and speakers; one protest took place at the state Capitol.

Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood nationally, told of women forced to drive many hours across state lines—sometimes multiple state lines—to end pregnancies since the Texas law went into effect. "The moment is dark ... but that is why we are here," Johnson told the crowd packed into Freedom Square and surrounding streets. "No matter where you are, this fight is at your doorstep right now." In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke at rallies in Seneca Falls and Albany. “I'm sick and tired of having to fight over abortion rights," she said. An opponent of access to abortion differed online. "What about equal rights for unborn women?" tweeted Jeanne Mancini, president of the group March for Life.

(More Women's March stories.)

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