By Saswat Pattanayak
Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, and Girls for Gender Equity have come together to call for action, all across the country, “not only to demonstrate that people support abortion access, but to show that (they) won’t back down”.
The demonstration titled “Bans Off NYC with Planned Parenthood of Greater New York & Repro Justice, Health, and Rights Leaders” will gather at 12pm at Cadman Plaza, march across the Brooklyn Bridge, and then land at Foley Square for a “Welcome Village” from 3-6pm.
This organizing follows the Politico publication on May 2nd that included a leaked draft Supreme Court majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that explicitly overturns Roe v. Wade.
If true, this may reverse almost 50 years of precedent and explicitly end federal constitutional protections for abortion. Following this ban, millions of people might get immediately deprived of local access to abortion, in as many as 26 states. The rally organizers believe the “people in your community and across the country deserve the power and freedom to make their own personal reproductive health care decisions”.
Similar “Bans Off Our Bodies” marches are being held during the same weekend in Stamford (CT), Princeton (NJ), Wilmington (DE), Northampton (MA), Albany (NY), Providence (RI), Worcester (MA), Harrisburg (PA), Baltimore (MD), Ithaca (NY), Boston (MA), Washington (DC), Montpelier (VT), Portland (ME), Richmond (VA), Cleveland (OH), Columbus (OH), Ann Arbor (MI), Cincinnati (OH), Fort Wayne (IN), Greenville (SC), Knoxville (TN), Louisville (KY), Chicago (IL), Savannah (GA), Chattanooga (TN), Atlanta (GA), Nashville (TN), and Davenport (IA).
Between January and March of 2022 itself, more than 500 anti-abortion restrictions have been filed in 41 states. As the attacks continue across states on abortion and as Americans await the decision from the Supreme Court on Jackson Women’s Health Organization (JWHO) v. Dobbs, the organizers hope to make the message clear that they will not stand for these bans, and that abortion care is health care.