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WASHINGTON , May 14 (AP) \u2014 Supporters of abortion rights took to the streets across America on Saturday to make clear their anger at the prospect that the Supreme Court will soon strike down the constitutional right to abortion. Cries of \u201cMy body, my choice\u201d rang out as activists committed to fighting for the legal protection that has endured for nearly a half-century.<\/p>\n
Incensed by a leaked draft opinion suggested the conservative majority on the court would vote to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, activists rallied to express their outrage and mobilize for the future as Republican-led states are poised to enact tighter restrictions.<\/p>\n
In the nation\u2019s capital, thousands gathered in drizzly weather at the Washington Monument to listen to fiery speeches before marching to the Supreme Court, which is now surrounded by two layers of security fences.<\/p>\n
The mood was one of anger and defiance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t believe that at my age, I\u2019m still having to protest over this,\u201d said Samantha Rivers, a 64-year-old federal government employee who is preparing for a state-by-state battle over abortion rights.<\/p>\n
Caitlin Loehr, 34, of Washington, wore a black T-shirt with an image of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg\u2019s \u201cdissent\u201d collar on it and a necklace that spelled out \u201cvote.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that women should have the right to choose what to do with their bodies and their lives. And I don\u2019t think banning abortion will stop abortion. It just makes it unsafe and can cost a woman her life,\u201d Loehr said.<\/p>\n
A half-dozen anti-abortion demonstrators sent out a countering message, with Jonathan Darnel shouting into a microphone, \u201cAbortion is not health care, folks, because pregnancy is not an illness.\u201d<\/p>\n
From Pittsburgh to Pasadena, California, and Nashville, Tennessee, to Lubbock, Texas, tens of thousands participated in \u201cBans off our Bodies\u201d events. Organizers expected that among the hundreds of events, the largest would take place in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and other big cities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s a fight they want, it\u2019s a fight they\u2019ll get,\u201d Rachel Carmona, executive director of the Women\u2019s March, said before the march.<\/p>\n
Polls show that most Americans want to preserve access to abortion \u2014 at least in the earlier stages of pregnancy \u2014 but the Supreme Court appeared to be poised to let the states have the final say. If that happens, roughly half of states, mostly in the South and Midwest, are expected to quickly ban abortion.<\/p>\n
The battle was personal for some protesters.<\/p>\n
Teisha Kimmons, who traveled 80 miles to attend the Chicago rally, said she fears for women in states that are ready to ban abortion. She said she might not be alive today if she had not had a legal abortion when she was 15.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was already starting to self harm and I would have rather died than have a baby,\u201d said Kimmons, a massage therapist from Rockford, Illinois.<\/p>\n
At that rally, speaker after speaker told the crowd that if abortion is banned that the rights of immigrants, minorities and others will also be \u201cgutted,\u201d as Amy Eshleman, wife of Chicago Mayor Lori lightfoot put it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has never been just about abortion. It\u2019s about control,\u201d Eshleman told the crowd of thousands. \u201cMy marriage is on the menu and we cannot and will not let that happen,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
In New York, thousands of people gathered in Brooklyn\u2019s courthouse plaza before a march across the Brooklyn Bridge to lower Manhattan where another rally was planned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here for the women who can\u2019t be here, and for the girls who are too young to know what is ahead for them,\u201d Angela Hamlet, 60, of Manhattan, said to the backdrop of booming music.<\/p>\n
Robin Seidon, who traveled from Montclair, New Jersey, for the rally, said the nation was a place abortion rights supporters have long feared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been nibbling at the edges, and it was always a matter of time before they thought they had enough power on the Supreme court, which they have now,\u201d said Seidon, 65.<\/p>\n
The upcoming high court ruling in a case from Mississippi stands to energize voters, potentially shaping the upcoming midterm elections.<\/p>\n
In Texas, which has a strict law banning many abortions, the challenger to one of the last anti-abortion Democrats in Congress marched in San Antonio.<\/p>\n
Jessica Cisneros joined demonstrators just days before early voting begins in her primary runoff against U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar. The race could be one of the first tests over whether the court leak will galvanize voters.<\/p>\n
In Chicago, Kjirsten Nyquist, a nurse toting daughters ages 1 and 3, agreed about the need to vote. \u201cAs much as federal elections, voting in every small election matters just as much,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s rallies come three days after the Senate failed to muster enough votes to codify Roe v. Wade. Sponsors included the Women\u2019s March, Move On, Planned Parenthood, UltraViolet, MoveOn, SEIU and other organizations.<\/p>\n
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