Activists Rally In Front Of US Supreme Court To Protest Bans On Abortion

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2019) Hundreds of people gathered in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington on Tuesday to protest against newly adopted state laws banning abortion, as part of a series of similar demonstrations across the country.

"We are here today at the Supreme Court rallying to stop the bans on abortion," NARAL Pro-Choice America National Communications Director Kristine Ford told Sputnik. "There are extreme, draconian bans sweeping the country and women and men across nation are standing strong to say: 'Stop the bans.' We need to preserve the right to safe and legal access [to abortion]."

Numerous lawmakers including Senators Cory Booker and Kristin Gillibrand, joined the rally in Washington in a show of support.

Ford noted that the protest in the capital coincided with more than 500 other rallies in cities across the country, including New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

"We are going to keep the drumbeat going and going into the 2020 elections," Ford said. Women and men are going to show up to vote for candidates who embrace reproductive freedom. We are focused on the political dynamic on how do we make sure people are going to vote for candidates who protect reproductive freedom.

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On Wednesday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed into law a bill that bans abortion in nearly all cases, with no exceptions for rape or incest, and imposes up to a 99-year prison sentence on doctors who perform the procedure.

The governors in the states of Ohio, Mississippi, Georgia Kentucky have similarly approved bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as the sixth week of pregnancy.

The moves mark the most direct challenge to the 1973 US Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade that established the right to abortion until the fetus reaches viability.

Rabi Rachel Greengrass, who traveled from her temple Beth Am in Pinecrest, Florida, to attend the rally in Washington, told Sputnik that the abortion bans are a sad way to attempt to restrict women and control their bodies.

"My hope is that since abortion is legal, this [challenge] will be shut down in the lower courts and therefore we will not have to bring it to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has upheld the women's right to choose," Greengrass said.

The intent of the rally is to not stand idly by and allow women's rights to be taken away, Greengrass added.