Abortion activists gathered around the nation on Saturday, May 14, to protest against the possibility of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. More than 300 “Bans Off Our Bodies” marches were scheduled in various cities, with the largest in Washington DC, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, in what organizers are promising to be a “summer of rage” if abortion rights are kicked down to the states.
Rachel Carmona, president of Women’s March explained:
“For the women of this country, this will be a summer of rage. We will be ungovernable until this government starts working for us, until the attacks on our bodies let up, until the right to an abortion is codified into law.”
In New York, thousands gathered to march across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. Elizabeth Holtzman, 80 year old former Congresswoman who represented New York from 1973-1981, said the leaked draft opinion “treats women as objects, as less than full human beings.” She added, “I’ve been fighting for women’s rights for 50 years and I’m not going to give up.”
In Seattle, the city known a couple of years ago for having a “summer of love” attitude toward the takeover of city blocks to build the autonomous zone – otherwise known as CHOP – a couple of thousand protesters gathered at Cal Anderson Park for the “summer of rage” event.
Laurie Hudnall, an RN for a local trauma hospital, was attending the protest to “support women’s right to have a safe abortion.” While she said the crowd was “pleasant,” there were also some moments that made her uncomfortable when pro-life supporters showed up and started arguing with the attendees. They were “preaching abstinence,” Hudnall explained. “No sex unless you want to conceive.”
Seattle pro-abortion march (courtesy Laurie Hudnall)
The anti-abortion advocacy group, Students for Life of America, made their presence known with a counter-protest in the capital and sent out a tweet saying, “The prolifegen is representing for LIFE at DC’s abortion march. We will not be silent as long as fellow Americans advocate killing children.”
Leaked Opinion Causes Loss of Confidence
On May 2, a draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito was leaked to the public, sparking outrage across the country. The idea that the Supreme Court might overturn the federal right to abortion and send it to the states has split the country once again. And, the idea that such a breach could have happened in the first place set off ripples of shock and concern. While the left fights to keep abortions protected at the federal level, the right is trying to figure out who revealed the confidential information, and how, while also seeking solutions to protect the justices. In the past week, abortion activists have protested outside the homes of conservative Supreme Court Justices.
During a conference in Dallas on Friday (May 13), Justice Clarence Thomas said trust within the court was now “gone forever” due to the leak. He added, “When you lose that trust, especially in the institution that I’m in, it changes the institution fundamentally.”
On Wednesday, March 11, the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) fell short by 11 votes in the Senate. It needed 60 votes to pass, but all 50 Republicans as well as Democrat Senator Joe Manchin (WV) voted against it. “They’re trying to make people believe that this is the same thing as codifying Roe v. Wade,” the senator explained his reason for voting against the act. “And I want you to know, it’s not. This is not the same. It expands abortion.”
Seattle pro-abortion march (courtesy Laurie Hudnall)
Susan Collins (R-ME) is pro-choice but also agreed with Manchin. She said the WHPA “goes far beyond what is necessary to codify the abortion rights in Roe and Casey.”
Although the idea behind overturning the abortion ruling is to send the decision back to the states where it belongs, since it was never a constitutional right from the beginning, others are concerned about what this will mean for states with stricter laws. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) who has described himself as pro-life, voted for the bill, saying he had “serious concerns about what overturning almost 50 years of legal precedent will mean for women in states passing near or total bans on abortion.”
However, some argue that fear is being instilled beyond what is necessary because most states are not promoting a ban on all abortions. Liberty Nation Editor-at-Large James Fite wrote a four-piece series describing the abortion laws in the 26 “so-called trigger” states:
- Part 1: Alabama to Indiana
- Part 2: Kentucky to Montana
- Part 3: Nebraska to South Dakota
- Part 4: Tennessee to Wyoming
Fear, however, is a powerful weapon. Just the idea of women’s reproductive rights being thrown back to a time before the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision is causing panic, and those who have been on the fence about the issue may be influenced by the attention suddenly focused on abortion.
This weekend’s “Bans Off Our Bodies” protests are likely only the first wave of many more before the matter is decided by the court – and in all probability for long after, if the final decision goes the way most now suspect it will. America is looking at a summer of 2020 redux. We can only hope it will not prove as violent and destructive as two years ago.
