Greater than 100 abortion rights advocates marched exterior the Supreme Court docket on Thursday and sat on the recent concrete at an intersection, demanding that lawmakers throughout the nation shield and increase entry to abortion.
Washington
Abortion rights protesters block intersection near Supreme Court
On Thursday, protesters sporting inexperienced bandannas gathered shortly earlier than midday at Second Avenue and East Capitol NE earlier than marching — behind a big banner that mentioned “We received’t again down” — a number of blocks over to their sit-in web site at First Avenue and Structure Avenue NW.
“That is a few lady’s proper to her personal physique,” actress Alysia Reiner mentioned on the protest. “We have to get up for bodily autonomy within the face of a authorities that cares so little about our rights.”
Police directed visitors away from the intersection and began arresting protesters at about 12:30 p.m.
“We have now already given our third and last warning. We are actually making arrests for anybody who’s illegally blocking the intersection,” U.S. Capitol Police tweeted.
Katelyn Leonard, 39, was out in entrance of the Supreme Court docket already with an indication declaring “Preserve your ‘God’ out of my uterus” when she determined to hitch the march. Leonard, a fifth-grade trainer for D.C. Public Colleges, mentioned she was there for her feminine college students who will enter a world with much less rights than their male classmates. Her eyes welled up when she noticed a girl round her mom’s age being arrested.
“Figuring out that she and my mom and aunt have been protesting 50 years in the past and that it’s nonetheless occurring at present,” Leonard mentioned. “If individuals don’t see the trend … nothing adjustments.”
This sort of escalation — blocking a road, an motion that’s topic to arrest — is uncommon for Deliberate Parenthood Motion Fund, which usually mobilizes supporters by lobbying elected officers and knocking on doorways to speak to neighborhood members.
“We’re ensuring that we’re placing our our bodies on the road for this problem,” mentioned Kelley Robinson, govt director of the Deliberate Parenthood Motion Fund. “We’re transferring right into a summer season of defiance, a summer season of dissent, a summer season of exercise and motion.”
Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), who joined the march, mentioned turnout at rallies throughout the nation has been “great”: “This momentum will solely construct as a result of 38 million ladies who be affected by this once they see that abortion has been banned of their state.”
Chu was arrested together with different protesters.
At 1:22 p.m., D.C. police tweeted that the demonstration had ended and the intersection was reopened to visitors.
This story is creating and can be up to date. Peter Hermann contributed to this report.