Abortion rights supporters mobilized across the United States yesterday in the second day of protests against the Supreme Court ruling, as conservative states begin to ban abortions.
The country is experiencing a new polarization, between the states that are already denying, or preparing to do so, the right to abortion, in force for 50 years, and those that maintain it. After protests that lasted late into the night on Friday, several hundred people returned to the streets on Saturday, particularly in Washington, in front of the fenced headquarters of the Supreme Court of Justice.
“War on women, who’s next?” and “No uterus, no opinion,” read some of the banners unfurled by protesters.
“What happened yesterday is unspeakable and disgusting,” said Mia Stagner, 19, a political science major at the university. “Forcing a woman to be a mother is not something that should be done,” she added.
Similar demonstrations are also taking place in Los Angeles, one aimed at city hall and the other at the federal courthouse, and in dozens of cities across the country.
At least eight right-leaning states have already imposed abortion bans, and a similar number will do the same in the coming weeks. after the court struck down constitutional protections for the procedure that had been in place for nearly half a century, drawing criticism from some of America’s closest allies around the world.
Many fear the Supreme Court, which since the Trump administration has been largely conservative in composition, will now focus on same-sex marriage rights and contraception. President Joe Biden, who has also expressed concern that the court will not stop at abortion, spoke out again on Saturday against the “shocking” ruling by the highest court.
“I know how painful and devastating this decision is for many Americans,” he said at the White House.
In states that severely restrict or ban and criminalize abortions, women will have to continue their pregnancy, have a clandestine abortion, obtain abortion pills, or travel to another state where abortion is still legal.