Thousands of protesters hit the streets on Tuesday in nationwide rallies to support abortion rights following recent legislative efforts to ban most abortions in several states.
More than 500 demonstrations had been planned for noon, local time, at statehouses, town squares and courthouses in all 50 states, as well as Puerto Rico and Ottawa, Canada, as part of the National Day of Action to Stop the Bans.
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Supporting demonstrations were also planned in Italy, India and Brussels, according to the eventβs website.
βAcross the country, we are seeing a new wave of extreme bans on abortion, stripping away reproductive freedom and representing an all-out assault on abortion access,β the eventβs website says. βPoliticians shouldnβt be making decisions best left to women, their families, and their doctors.β
Tuesdayβs flagship event kicked off in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., with various speakers, including Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
βWe are here to say enough is enough. Weβre going to fight you and weβre going to win,β Klobuchar shouted into a megaphone while surrounded by placards promoting reproductive rights.
βThis is a matter, my friends, of civil rights,β she said. βWe cannot allow them to move this country backward.β
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) also took the microphone and criticized recent legislation that aims to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which protects abortion rights.
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βTheyβre not just wrong β they are cruel, they are extreme and they are designed to control womenβs decisions and criminalize doctors,β Murray said of the wave of new state laws. βThey make it harder for women to plan families and be economically secure.β
Other 2020 candidates attending the event included Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).
More than 50 organizations partnered for the event, including Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Institute for Reproductive Health, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Catholics for Choice, the Center for American Progress, the Womenβs March and the Sierra Club.
The nationwide event followed earlier rallies in various cities, including Chicago, multiple locations in Alabama, and Kansas City, Missouri.
βPoliticians, take notice: If you come for our reproductive freedom, youβll have to get through ALL of us,β the ACLU said in a Tuesday tweet that shared a map showing some of the dayβs planned protests. The post also included the eventβs social media hashtag, #stopthebans.
At a rally in New Yorkβs Foley Square, protester Scott Stringer told HuffPost that New York should become the first city to directly fund abortion care.
βAbortion is health care and abortion is a fundamental right,β Stringer said. βWe need to put our money where our mouth is. Thereβs more that government can do.β
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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who recently announced his 2020 presidential candidacy, said at the rally that βitβs a small group of right-wing extremists who are trying to ignore that American majority ... but we are not going back, are we?β
The rallies were organized after Alabamaβs governor last Wednesday signed the nationβs strictest anti-abortion law, which would make it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion in nearly all cases, including rape and incest.
Then last Friday, Missouri passed a bill that would ban abortions β including for women who had conceived from rape or incest β after eight weeks, which is often before women know theyβre pregnant. Gov. Mike Parson (R) has said he will sign that bill into law.
Georgia and Ohio have also passed so-called βheartbeatβ bills that would prohibit an abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. This is typically as early as six weeks into pregnancy and, again, before most women know theyβre pregnant.
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Across the nation, protesters staged demonstrations in their own cities, and events are planned for later this week as well.
Check out photos from various rallies throughout the country below.
#StopTheBan protest in Larchmont Village #losangeles. Women from 15 to 75. Lots of men too. Everyone saying I canβt believe weβre here again. People are *pissed.* pic.twitter.com/ti4iJFYZC5
About 75 protesters are here in Boulder speaking out against abortion bans that are either being discussed or being passed in several states. There is a similar protest in Fort Collins with about 50 protesters and thereβs a planned event tonight in Denver. @DenverChannelpic.twitter.com/ZJ8d9gnsla
Today, a number of groups, including several coalition partners (Planned Parenthood of Delaware, ACLU-DE and Network Delaware) co-sponsored a #StopTheBan pro-choice/womenβs rights rally at Rodney Square. pic.twitter.com/E7NxPPHuTS
βConnect with the groups here on the ground who have been leading this fight β organizations led by black women, by queer and trans folks.β Jalessah Jackson, Georgia Coordinator β at Atlanta #StoptheBans rally #abortionsolidaritypic.twitter.com/n1fQPZ3mHy
Thank you to everyone who showed up to #StopTheBans in Savannah today! Roe v. Wade has allowed people to access abortion legally and prevented people from dying from unsafe, illegal abortions. #WeWontGoBack! pic.twitter.com/mGLt2FyHGh
— Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates (@PPSE_Advocates) May 21, 2019
#StopTheBan rallies happening nationwide. #Kentuckyβs pro-choice protestors standing up against the recent wave of anti-abortion laws passing in some states like Alabama, Missouri and more recently Georgia. pic.twitter.com/Mt9GA41myw
A #StopTheBans rally against recently enacted anti-abortion measures in Kentucky and other states like Alabama and Missouri is about to get started outside the federal building in Louisville. @courierjournalpic.twitter.com/OF4ht3qYMP
HAPPENING NOW: The National Organization For Women are gathering at UNC in protest of abortion bans around the country. Theyβre part of #StopTheBans and there are several protests happening across North Carolina today. pic.twitter.com/6efF4K1wKH
Big cities are great, but I am HERE for these #StopTheBans protests in place like Waynesville NC (pop <10,000)! Thank you all! Please stay involved with @NARALNC to stop all to real abortion bans being pushed by some of your elected officials! pic.twitter.com/b2oHUGygNe
Women are sharing their stories about abortion and fighting for abortion rights. Many of them are chanting, βwe wonβt go backβ. pic.twitter.com/SpIK4t5B6x
#StopTheBans signs in Philly today: - Abortion is healthcare. Abortion is a right - Let doctors do their jobs - Women's health is not partisan - Stop punishing women. 100% of unwanted pregnancies are caused by men - Against abortion? Have a vasectomy - Lock him up - #WeWontGoBackpic.twitter.com/WXtsQRmDRg
— The Womxn Project (@WomanProjectHQ) May 21, 2019
South Carolina:
South Carolina had a strong sign game at our #StopTheBans rally. The signs were all different but the message is the same: Hands off my body. Hands off my rights. pic.twitter.com/hQnVJlzcRU
Happening right now! A rally at the state capitol...protesting any legislation that would ban abortions like in Alabama, Georgia, Missouri Kentucky and other states. @WACHBryantM@wachfoxpic.twitter.com/ehSijW6HdG
Abortion is healthcare. Abortion is a right. And Tennessee is ready, willing and able to fight to defend our right to make our own decisions about what happens to our bodies. #StopTheBanspic.twitter.com/zxXZAEbqN7
— Indivisible Jackson TN (@IndvJackson) May 21, 2019
Texas:
Anti-choice legislators filed almost 40 bills this session in Texas. Bills that would infringe on our constitutionally protected rights to safe, legal, abortion care.
So happy to have seen so many different generations out at the beginning of the #StopTheBans rally in Austin. *could only drive by and scream my support bc work but I STAN YOU ALL and thank you for showing up for #HumanRightspic.twitter.com/h7jdhoBbyI
I'm at City Hall Plaza w hundreds protesting blatant right-wing attacks on abortion rights in Alabama & Mississippi. The best way to fight Trump & the right? Build mass protests, a national day of action, workplace strike actions for full abortion rights for all & Medicare 4 All! pic.twitter.com/qvtFStUDtz
Amanda Terkel contributed reporting from Washington, D.C., and Emma Gray contributed reporting from New York City.
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