In the United States, the battle for the right to abortion takes to the streets – archyworldys

The “March of Women” is back in force in 2021 to counter an unprecedented conservative offensive. The battle for the right to abortion is being played out on Saturday, October 2, in the United States, where hundreds of demonstrations are planned. Thousands of demonstrators began to take to the American streets to defend the right to abortion, the target of an unprecedented conservative offensive.

Entry into force on 1^er September of a Texas law, which bans virtually all abortions in this vast state, unleashed legal guerrilla warfare and a counterattack in Congress, but few marches of protesters so far.

Two days before the resumption of hearings at the Supreme Court of the United States, which will be the arbiter of the fight, nearly two hundred organizations have finally called on abortion rights defenders to be heard across the country.

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More than 240,000 people expected in the country

The flagship event takes place in Washington, where thousands of people march to the high court which, nearly fifty years after recognizing the right of American women to have an abortion in its landmark Roe vs Wade, seems ready to engage the reverse gear.

“Women are human beings in their own right, and we must be treated as such. We should be able to decide what we want to do with our own bodies, period ”, launches Laura Bushwitz, a 66-year-old retired teacher who came to demonstrate in Washington. “I’m fed up with being told what I can or cannot do (…). Do you hear that, the Supreme Court? “, she blurted out.

The high court, profoundly overhauled by former President Donald Trump, has indeed refused to intervene urgently to block Texas law and could take advantage of the review of a restrictive Mississippi law to change its jurisprudence.

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Gatherings are also planned in the capitals of these two conservative states, Austin and Jackson, as well as in more than six hundred cities across the country. According to the organizers, more than 240,000 people are expected across the United States.

“We are fighting so that abortion is not just legal, but also accessible, affordable and stigma-free”, they write in a statement, asking Congress to enshrine in federal law the right to abortion, in order to protect it from a possible reversal of the Supreme Court.

A bill to this effect was adopted a week ago in the House of Representatives, in the hands of the Democrats, but has no chance of succeeding in the Senate where the Republicans have a blocking minority.

Read our analysis: How the Republican Party weakens American democracy

First “Women’s March” of the Biden era

In 2017, a first “Women’s March” was organized just after the inauguration of Donald Trump and brought together millions of opponents to the Republican billionaire accused of sexism. Subsequent editions had been less successful, in part due to internal dissension over accusations of anti-Semitism against one of its officials.

This page seems to be turned: “This year, we are united”, ensures the organization, which brings together a large coalition including both small feminist associations, local or community, as the giant of family planning Planned Parenthood.

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“We’re going to take to the streets for the first time in the Biden era, because the change in the Oval Office hasn’t put an end to the politicized, perverse, and patriarchal desire to control our bodies.”, she adds with reference to the election of Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 to the White House, which has not changed the dynamic at the state level.

On the contrary, galvanized by the entry into the Supreme Court of three magistrates chosen by Donald Trump, local conservative elected officials have embarked on a real anti-abortion offensive: since the 1^er January, nineteen states adopted 63 laws restricting access to abortions. If the Court were to overturn the Roe decision vs Wade, every state would be free to ban or allow abortions.

The World with AFP