(Images: @mmitgang with permission to CHS)
UPDATE 5/4/2022: A crowd estimated at more than 1,000 people gathered in Seattle’s Westlake Plaza Wednesday night for an abortion rights rally and march that filled the city’s downtown streets with hundreds calling for protection of reproductive rights in the wake of the Supreme Court leak.
(Images: @mmitgang with permission to CHS)
Speakers and signs called for renewed efforts to federally protect abortion rights and strengthen access in Washington state. Marches and protests are being planned to continue as the nation awaits the Supreme Court’s final decision that could overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case and protections.
Later in the night, a group of black bloc protesters gathered near Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park. There were no reports of property damage and no reported arrests.
Meanwhile at Cal Anderson https://t.co/4LMWRMsJZT
— jseattle (@jseattle) May 4, 2022
Original report: Seattle officials and community leaders have responded to the leak of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision on abortion rights with condemnation and planned protests.
Refuse Fascism Seattle has announced plans for a week of actions including a Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights protest starting at Capitol Hill’s Seattle Central College Plaza along Broadway on Saturday, May 14th.
District 3 City Councilmember Kshama Sawant is also calling for mass protests.
“Abortion rights were won in the first place only through defiant mass protests by ordinary women, working people,” Sawant said. “Now’s the time for socialists, the labor movement, the left to call for immediate mass protests, workplace actions against this egregious attack.”
Sawant is calling for supporters to attend a rally planned for Tuesday night in Westlake Plaza downtown starting at 6 PM.
The region’s Democratic leadership, meanwhile, are also planning a rally Tuesday in Kerry Park on Queen Anne overlooking the city. Gov. Jay Inslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland, King County Executive Dow Constantine, and Seattle Deputy Mayor Monisha Harrell are scheduled to attend along with representatives from Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates.
In the rapidly unfolding situation following the reported leak, the Supreme Court has confirmed the authenticity of the draft opinion that would overturn federal abortion rights and turn the matter over to individual states. The court’s publication of its final decision has been expected to come in the next two months.
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