Smaller church-based gatherings linked to Mother’s Day are scheduled Sunday as reproduction rights advocates continue their protests against a possible U.S. Supreme Court ruling that would overturn federal abortion protections enshrined in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
These will kick off a planned week of action set to continue daily through Saturday when “Bans Off Our Bodies” rallies are scheduled to be held nationwide, according to organizers.
On Saturday, dozens of people protested in West Hollywood and Culver City and at a variety of sites in other parts of California and nationwide, including outside the Washington D.C. area homes of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts.
In West Hollywood, a crowd of mostly female demonstrators carried signs with such slogans as “We Won’t Go Back,” “My Body My Choice,” “Abortion on Demand Without Apology” and “If It Isn’t Your Body It’s Not Your Decision.”
The group Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights organized the protest which started around noon at San Vicente and Santa Monica boulevards, went to La Cienega Boulevard, Melrose Avenue, Robertson Boulevard and back to San Vicente, said Sgt. E. Jalvez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s West Hollywood Station.
Deputies provided traffic control to keep protesters safe, he said.
Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights plans a national week of action starting Mother’s Day, building to the nationwide protest on May 14. “We refuse to let the U.S. Supreme Court take away abortion rights,” the group promised on its Twitter page.
“The leaked draft memo that states the Supreme Court has struck down #RoeVWade is an ATROCITY but It is not yet law & doesn’t have to be, but what they plan to do & will do if WE don’t stop them,” the group noted on Twitter.
Dozens of protesters also gathered at Veterans Memorial Park in Culver City, led by a coalition of community groups and elected officials.
“While there are many local and nation rallies planned for May 14, there isn’t a moment to wait to get involved in defending an American woman’s right to her own autonomy,” Culver City Councilwoman Yasmine-Imani McMorrin said. “In 2022, we are still fighting for so many basic human rights. I believe that abortion is healthcare and I’m determined to do all I can on the local level to support women/people who can become pregnant and their access to reproductive care.”
At least two Los Angeles rallies are set for the May 14 day of protest, one at 9 a.m. as part of a larger, previously planned, Women’s March at 350 W. First St. and at noon in Grand Park, 200 N. Grand Ave.