New York: Protesters for individual freedom and civil liberties have staged a massive protest rally across the US on Saturday to decry the supreme court's expected reversal of the landmark 1973 law that made abortion legal in America.
At a rally organized by the abortion supporting people, they expressed concern about rights of their own body and individual liberty. But no one is willing to say a word about the rights of the unborn child.
Organizers said there were more than 380 protest events in cities including major ones in Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago to demand that the right to an abortion is not stripped away by the court, which is dominated by rightwing justices.
Gathering in large groups and holding signs that included slogans such as "My body, my choice", the protesters have been spurred by the leak of a supreme court draft opinion on 2 May.
The leaked draft showed that the five rightwing justices on the nine-member court had voted to overturn Roe v Wade, the historic case that provided federal protection for abortion rights and proved a beacon in international efforts to improve the rights of women.
In the US capital, protestors gathered at the Washington Monument before marching to the supreme court, which is surrounded by a security fence.
Some held pictures of coat hangers to symbolize the dangerous measures some people resorted to for illegal abortions prior to the Roe v Wade ruling. "If it's a fight they want, it's a fight they'll get," said Rachel Carmona, executive director of the Women's March, one of the groups.
"We have to see an end to the attacks on our bodies," Carmona added.
''If the court were to end protections for abortion following the challenge brought by Mississippi, at least 26 US states, mostly in the south and midwest, would be certain or likely to outlaw abortion, forcing women to travel hundreds of miles to the nearest clinic, self-manage abortions with medication and heighten the risk of prosecution, abuse and violence for women and doctors.'' She added.