Abortion rights at forefront of Women’s March rallies in runup to Election Day
WASHINGTON — Thousands of women rallied in the capital and elsewhere on Saturday in support of abortion rights and other feminist causes, ahead of Tuesday’s elections.
Protesters carried posters and signs through the city streets and chanted slogans such as “We are not going back.” Some men joined them. Speakers called on people to do so vote in the elections – not only for the president, but also on issues that fall under the vote, such as abortion rights amendments that go before voters in different states.
At the Women’s March on Washington, feminist activist Fanny Gomez-Lugo read a list of states with pro-abortion ballot measures before leading the crowd in a chant of “Abortion is freedom!”
In Kansas City, Missouri, rally organizers urged people to sign up and knock on doors in an effort to vote for an abortion rights measure.
The right to abortion has overtaken inflation as the top presidential election issue for women under 30 since the vice president Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee against Republican former President Donald Trump, according to a survey of female voters by KFF.
Ballot initiatives have surged in response to the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling ended the national right to abortion and shifted the issue to the states.
Nine states will consider constitutional amendments that would give rise to this enshrine abortion rights – Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota. Most would guarantee the right to abortion until the viability of the fetus and later allow it if necessary for the health of the pregnant woman.
One suggested amendment in New York does not specifically mention abortion, but would ban discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” and “reproductive health care and autonomy.”
Some participants at Saturday’s rally also advocated for LGBTQ+ rights, higher wages, paid sick leave and greater efforts against gun violence.