Major protests are expected to take place across the country this weekend in a national outcry against the Supreme Court’s draft opinion that signals the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. “We find that our worst fears have, in fact, come true,” Rachel O’Leary Carmona, the Women’s March director told Yahoo News. “So we are convening a large coalition of hundreds of organizations to gather across the country. And we have calls to action around federal legislation.”
Along with the Women’s March group, Planned Parenthood, MoveOn, UltraViolet and other organizations have banned together to arrange the protests, of which 370 have already been planned in cities including New York City, Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Local protests are scheduled as well. “We’ve been making sure to take it to the streets and to demonstrate that there is public outcry and that this is not the will of the people,” Carmona added. “This is not a democratic process. We’re here for the fight and we’re not having trouble mobilizing anywhere. And that will be the case for this summer.”
One of the biggest centralized effort by the organizations is the Bans Off Our Bodies Day of Action, which will take place all over the country on Saturday, May 14. To find the closest protest to you, click HERE. An impressive list of Hollywood heavyweights have already signed a petition with Bans Off Our Bodies to protest Roe V Wade being overturned, including Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, Megan Thee Stallion, Miley Cyrus, Shawn Mendes, Selena Gomez, and many many more.
Another option is to join in the protests organized by Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, which was established just this year and already has support from such influential women like Gloria Steinem, Alice Walker, and Lilly Wachowski. 41 cities are on the list for this Saturday. You can find the one closest to you HERE.
“Either abortion will be outlawed in your state or your state will become a state that needs to start providing abortions to people who are coming from out of state,” Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director of URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity, told Glamour. “So this will have an impact on every single person in this country.”
The time to take action is now.