Rage, tears fill streets across nation as thousands protest Roe reversal

The response came quickly and furiously on the Friday after the Supreme Court Overturned Roe v. The landmark Wade constitutional right to abortion.

Anger and dismay first erupted outside the Supreme Court shortly after the decision was announced.

Quickly, it spread to the west as abortion rights protesters ravaged across the country against conservative judges who erased half a century of precedent and made abortion accessible. impossible in many states.

Huge crowds gathered in front of the federal building in downtown Chicago and then marched through The Loop to Grant Park and chanted, “My body! My choice!” Protesters also held loud rallies outside the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, and across from the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison. And in Flint, Michigan, hundreds of people blocked the sidewalk in front of the Genesee County Prosecutor’s office.

Protests continued into the evening. Crowds marched downtown Seattle, and in Los Angeles, protesters marched on downtown 110, clogging traffic.

In Phoenix on Friday night, state soldiers used tear gas After protesters banged on the door of the Arizona Senate building, and after part of the door was broken down, state Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves said.

Gas was deployed from the roof of the House of Commons, he said. There have been no arrests. The Senate, which was in session, was interrupted but later resumed work.

Mass protests were reported in Richmond, Virginia; Jacksonville, Florida; Columbia, South Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina and Topeka, Kansas.

There were also protests outside the US embassies in London and Ottawa, Canada.

In New York City, thousands gathered in Union Square and began marching downtown.

“Abortion is health care, health care is right,” the crowd chanted.

One of the protesters was 16-year-old Anura Bracey, who was carrying a sign that read “Overturn Roe? Hell No.”

“I was very angry,” Bracey said. “I’m appalled at what this means for people born in the country.”

Bracey said she feels lucky to live in a country where abortion rights are still protected, but she worries that the Supreme Court could target other rights including equality in marriage.

“So I’m just here to vent my rage,” Bracey said. “I want someone to listen to us. I don’t know how much this is really going to do, but I just feel so desperate.”

Zonmund Heok, 51, of Ohio, was in New York City on vacation, but joined the protesters.

Heok suffered from preeclampsia and gave birth to a 15-year-old son at just 28 weeks pregnant and the doctor advised her to have an abortion when she became pregnant shortly after.

“To think that if the same thing happened to me next week in Ohio, I would have to go out of state or risk my life and my son would be without a mother, that made me so angry,” Heok said.

On Friday night, hundreds of protesters were in Union Square when US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrived.

The legislator, whose borough includes the Bronx and Queens, had previously called for people to take to the streets to protest, and appeal to voters vote in the primaries to help change the Democratic Party.

In Washington Friday, a woman who requested to be identified only as Skye openly wept after the decision was announced.

“It felt like a betrayal,” Skye said. “It feels like my country doesn’t love me and value my body as a woman. I can’t even shout because I can’t say anything. It hurts.”

Amanda Herring, 32 and 9 months pregnant, appeared with her 1-year-old son Abraham and the words “Not Yet a Human” written in ink on her swollen belly.

Herring, a Jewish educator who says her due date is Saturday, considers the Supreme Court’s ruling to be a violation of her religion.

“I feel it’s important for me to be here and let people know my religion says that life begins with the first breath,” she said. “It’s in the Torah, and it’s in the Old Testament.”

Hanna Fredeen, who was in high school in 1973 when Roe became a lawyer, said she recalls a classmate having to go to another country to have an abortion. She said poor women in states where the procedure is currently banned will be forced to have an alley abortion or perform it themselves.

Nearby, Lauren Handy of Radical Abortion Rebellion was part of a smaller crowd celebrating a Supreme Court decision that capped conservatives’ decades-long struggle to overthrow the constitutional right to abortion.

“It was an emotional roller coaster ride,” said Handy. “Complete and utter joy it was finally overturned.”

Handy then added, “The battle isn’t over yet.”

“The abortion industry is very strong in the blue states, and we have to go after them,” said Handy.

At St. Louis, protesters on both sides of the decision gathered in the same location – a Planned Parenthood clinic. Mark and Patricia McCloskeyThe couple are famous for swinging guns at social justice protesters in 2020, celebrating the end of Roe, according to NBC affiliate KSDK. Mark McCloskey is running for the United States Senate in Missouri as a Republican.

US Representative Cori Bush, a Democrat, discussed She had an abortion after she was raped at the age of 17. “They can knock Roe v. Wade down, but they can’t lower our voices,” she told the crowd outside the clinic.

The shock of the decision and its implications is not limited to the United States.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called it “a big setback.” World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speak he’s frustrated, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that “the news coming out of the United States is horrible.”

Now Roe v. Wade is no longer the law of the land, abortion is protected in less than half of the states and in no territory of the United States, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Before the Supreme Court ruling was announced, Republican lawmakers across the South and Midwest passed “trigger laws” that could make abortion illegal as soon as Roe debunked.

“Make no mistake, this decision is more than just abortion,” said Elizabeth Meyer, founder of Women’s March in New Jersey. “We might be protected in New Jersey, you know, but we’re sure that won’t happen in other places.”

Maura Barrett and Doha Madani reported from Washington, Elliot Lewis from New Haven, Conn., Daniella Silva and Corky Siemaszko from New York City.