Speakers including Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, mayoral candidate and congressperson Karen Bass, attorney Gloria Allred and actors including Ricki Lake and Christine Lahti urged people to fight for reproductive freedom at the “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally in downtown Los Angeles Saturday.
“I can’t work in Texas anymore,” said “Abbott Elementary” star Lisa Ann Walter, who stated that she is working with SAG-AFTRA to inform members of the reproductive health laws in each state. “We won’t quit until women are guaranteed autonomy all over this country.”
Thousands of people turned out for the Los Angeles event in front of City Hall, while more than 380 rallies were planned across the United States.
Allred spoke about her experience of having an illegal abortion in California in the 1960s before Roe v. Wade. The attorney said she almost died from an infection.
The rally was part of a nationwide effort to protest the expected overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, which could see up to 36 million people across the country lose access to abortion. Organizers want to get across the message that a majority of Americans support Roe v Wade.
“Abortion is essential healthcare,” Lake said at the rally.
“We all share one thing in common, and that is that we are enraged,” actress Connie Britton said. “Every woman, every family deserves the right to their own body.”
On Friday, Planned Parenthood took a full-page ad in the New York Times signed by artists including Camila Cabello, Selena Gomez and Olivia Rodrigo, saying “We Will Not Back Down.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdf8XmZsTOw/
A post shared by @camilaupdatescabello
Legislatures in conservative states are already passing restrictions to block access to legal abortions. 41 states have introduced anti-abortion restrictions in 2022.
The rallies were organized by organizations including Planned Parenthood and the Women’s March Foundation, which brought millions of protestors to the streets around the world after the election of Donald Trump.
“The fight for safe and legal abortion is the fight of our lifetime and women are ready to rise up and challenge the Supreme Court. The future of reproductive rights is in our hands and we will fight to save Roe V Wade state by state to ensure women’s rights are protected,” said Emiliana Guereca, co-executive director and co-founder of the Women’s March Foundation.
“Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi shared photos of herself with Laura Dern and Christy Burns at New York City’s rally, holding a sign that says “No Uterus No Opinion.”
Action movie star Milla Jovovich took to social media on Saturday morning to urge others to join the morning’s march in downtown Los Angeles: “Bring water, wear green and come support a movement that really should not need to be happening in this day and age.”
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A post shared by Milla Jovovich (@millajovovich)
See more posts regarding Saturday’s rally below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CdgpDEplbfs/
A post shared by Gloria Steinem (@gloriasteinem)
A post shared by Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin)
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