Women’s rights groups have raised concerns that Amy Coney Barrett will restrict access to abortion in the United States.
Women and their supporters gather in Washington, DC and the United States on Saturday for a women’s march against Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s youngest candidate to the Supreme Court.
Rachel O’Leary Carmona, the executive director of Women’s March, told a crowd that had gathered in the Freedom Plaza in the US capital that more than 400 similar protests had been organized across the country.
“When we get together, when we take to the streets, when we vote, women are the most powerful political force in America and there is nothing – nothing – that Donald Trump can do to stop us,” she said.
The crowd in Washington, DC – most of them wore masks due to the COVID-19 pandemic – planned to march towards the building of the U.S. Capitol and the U.S. Supreme Court, local media reported.
Protesters in Washington, DC planned to march to the US Capitol building and the US Supreme Court building [Daniel Slim/AFP]It was the second event the Women’s March organized that year after thousands gathered across the country in January for the fourth time of the year.
Several speakers called on protesters to vote Trump out of office on November 3rd and sang “Vote him out!” could be heard during the march.
The organizers also stressed the need to send a clear message of the opposition to Barrett and possible restrictions on women’s rights.
If so, the Conservative judge would give the nation’s Supreme Court a Conservative majority of 6 to 3 – and rights groups have said they fear Barrett intends to restrict access to abortion and other civil liberties.
Abortion rights
Jasmine Clemons, a patient advocate for Planned Parenthood, a reproductive health organization, said she personally “had to overcome far too many obstacles” to gain access to an abortion in the US.
She said she feared Barrett intends to further restrict access to abortion. “We can’t let go [Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell and Trump are taking our constitutional rights away. That’s why I’m here today, ”Clemons told the crowd.
“We are here in honor of all people who have fought for this right like justice [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg. “
Ginsburg’s death in September brought abortion rights into the spotlight ahead of the US elections.
Republicans have been trying to get Barrett’s nomination to the US Supreme Court ahead of the November 3rd presidential election [Erin Scott/Reuters]Senate Republicans have tried to get Barrett’s nomination through before the vote and have drawn the ire of Democratic lawmakers who say the next president should decide who will occupy Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Barrett’s nomination on October 22nd.
A conservative women’s group, the Independent Women’s Forum, said it was organizing a counter-protest in the US capital on Saturday under the slogan “I’m With Her” to support Barrett.
“The women’s march is under the banner of feminism, but it really doesn’t promote equality or equal opportunities for women. That’s why these so-called feminists are fighting a highly qualified candidate for the Supreme Court, ”the group said on its website.
The crowd sang, “Choose him!” during Saturday’s march in Washington, DC [Michael A. McCoy/Reuters]
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