A group of approximately 30 protesters dressed in black and with faces covered by masks march in Washington on Friday night (24), in protest against the Supreme Court decision that suspended the constitutional right to abortion. They are followed by about a hundred people.
Protesters burned US flags on the asphalt at least twice. The protest began in the early evening and passed in front of the Supreme Court. Then the group started to walk around the city center, which is a few blocks from the Congress.
The crowd echoes chants such as “my body, my choice” and “people must decide their fate. F*** the state, f*** the church”, as well as curses at the Supreme Court justices. They also spray-painted phrases on the asphalt and released black smoke with flares.
“Old f***ing speeches don’t solve. Revolts solve. Voting solves”, one of the leaders of the movement said, while the flag burned.
Police officers on bicycles and in vehicles follow the march. Security was heavily tightened in Washington on Friday, and several streets around Congress and the Supreme Court were blocked off.
During the day, hundreds of people demonstrated in front of the Supreme Court. By early evening, the vast majority of them were in favor of abortion. A few anti-interruption activists held up posters and engaged in debates with women’s rights advocates, sometimes in an aggressive tone.
At one point, activists threw water on two men who were advocating an end to abortion, to try to expel them. They walked away but remained in the area, talking about the right of babies to be born.
In front of the court, activists made several speeches in a row, questioning the decision and calling for unity so that the right to abortion is regained. “It’s not going to take 50 years to turn things around, because now we’re organized and we know how to fight,” one of the activists said into the microphone.
Many protesters carried placards comparing the abortion veto with the release of guns. On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that states cannot veto the carrying of guns in public.
“What’s the point of banning abortion for children to be born and killed in school?” joked an activist, who said only his name was Juan and carried one of the posters asking for a veto on weapons.
In other speeches, activists highlighted that the poorest women, as well as black, Latina and immigrant women, will be the most affected by the change. “All abortions matter, but black women will have a harder time, and we must help them,” another protester said in her speech.
HOW EVERY US SUPREME COURT JUDGE VOTED
FOR THE SUSPENSION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO ABORTION
- Samuel Alito
Who nominated him: George W. Bush (Republican)
- Clarence Thomas
Who nominated him: George HW Bush (Republican)
- Neil Gorsuch
Who nominated him: Donald Trump (Republican)
- Brett Kavanaugh
Who nominated him: Donald Trump (Republican)
- Amy Coney Barrett
Who nominated her: Donald Trump (Republican)
FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO ABORTION
- andStephen Breyer
Who nominated him: Bill Clinton (Democrat)
- Sonia Sotomayor
Who nominated her: Barack Obama (Democrat)
- Elena Kagan
Who nominated her: Barack Obama (Democrat)
- John Roberts*
Who nominated him: George W. Bush (Republican)
*Voted against suspending Roe vs. Wade, but in favor of the bill under discussion, which prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy in Mississippi
