Abortion rights activists rally for abortion justice throughout the country
By Alaa Elassar, CNN
Thousands of people across the United States are marching today in support of reproductive rights as the most restrictive anti-abortion bill yet went into effect in Texas last month.
Abortion rights activists are gathering at more than 600 marches across the US, holding placards and banners that read, “My mind, my body, my choice” and “Legal abortion for health and life,” as they demand reproductive freedoms.
The “Rally for Abortion Justice” marches follow the anti-abortion bill in Texas that bans abortions after six weeks — before many women know they have conceived — with no exceptions for rape or incest.
“I think it’s important to understand that pretty much everybody knows somebody that’s had an abortion,” Women’s March Executive Director Rachel O’Leary Carmona told CNN on Saturday before the march in Washington, DC.
“It’s important for us to hear all these stories,” she said. “It also is a bit of a tragedy that you know, folks have to put their pain out on display for us to be taken seriously. So what we’re trying to do today is make sure we all lift our voices in solidarity with each other to make sure the folks in power hear our message.”
Over 120,000 people are expected to rally today, Carmona said on Twitter.
The Supreme Court, which returns Monday, denied a request to block the Texas measure, and activists now fear it will empower other states to follow suit.
“Simply put: We are witnessing the most dire threat to abortion access in our lifetime,” the Women’s March website reads.
The Women’s March is organizing the rallies in partnership with more than 90 groups, including Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a nonprofit that provides reproductive health care, and the Center for American Progress, a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization.
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CNN’s Kaanita Iyer contributed to this report.
