Thousands of people take to the streets to support abortion rights protests

BreaknLinks

Washington D.C
Abortion rights activists march on Constitution Avenue to the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, today. Photo: Supplied/ AFP - Jose Luis Magana

Thousands of abortion rights supporters are protesting around the United States today, marking the beginning of what organizers have described as "a summer of rage" if the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationally.

Here are some of the voices heard during the rallies in New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Los Angeles:

Gabriela Fraga, age 35, held a sign that read "pregnant by choice" at the New York event. Fraga, born and raised in a Peruvian Catholic family, is 32 weeks pregnant and asserts that she has always been a staunch pro-choice advocate.

"I believe that all persons capable of carrying children have the fundamental right to make decisions. "Going through my pregnancy has only strengthened this conviction," she stated.

"I only became pregnant when I became pregnant because I had the conditions - material, emotional, psychological - to allow for a good life for this child that I'm very excited to have."

Jillian Larussa, age 27, stated that the right to abortion should be codified into legislation instead of relying on the precedent set by the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision: "Because this is healthcare."

"This isn't the end," she declared as she crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. "This is gonna happen for gay marriage, it's gonna happen for contraceptives, so it's important we hit the streets and we fight against it before we lose rights."

Elizabeth Leek, a 75-year-old massage therapist, was wearing a flower crown and holding a sign that read "Grandma says respect women's choices" at the "Bans Off Our Bodies" event in front of the Washington Monument.

Leek reported that she nearly died after an unsafe abortion at 18, before Roe v. Wade. Now she experiences "outrage" and fears about her six grandkids, and she stated that she is advocating for their healthcare and bodily liberty.

"It breaks my heart," she remarked of the court's written opinion. However, she was encouraged by many old and young protesters on Saturday.

She stated, "It's momentum,"

Brita Van Rossum, a 62-year-old landscape designer from the Philadelphia suburbs, traveled to the Washington, DC protest.

She stated that it was her first time specifically protesting for abortion rights.

"I'm outraged," she exclaimed. If the ability to decide whether to have a child is not a fundamental right, I do not know what is.

A 52-year-old graphic designer from the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, Patricia Fulton, stated, "I am angry and I'm going to stay angry."

Fulton, who was at the demonstration across from the Georgia statehouse, stated that if Roe v. Wade was to be preserved, the US Democratic Party needed to be stronger.

Fulton stated, "There's public outrage, but we need more leadership from those who can do something,"

As a healthcare professional, Malcolm DeCesare, 34, an intensive care nurse from New York who attended the march in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, stated, "I realize and strongly feel that we can only ban safe abortions.

"By banning abortion, or even proposing to ban abortion, we are relegating a whole population of women to the Dark Ages - we are putting them at great risk," he warned.

Shannon Flaherty, a 52-year-old student of nursing who had spent years as a housewife, attended the Los Angeles demonstration with her 16-year-old daughter, Piper, and two of Piper's friends.

She stated that she and her mother "have lived with men making decisions for our bodies and our lives for a long, long time and it's got to end.'"

Piper stated that the draft ruling indicated that history was reversing course.

She remarked, "It just makes me really angry that people want to control this, especially when there are so many other things that people could be doing to save people's lives like overturning the death penalty or providing free healthcare,"

Publish : 2022-05-15 08:25:00

Give Your Comments