Abortion ban rallies in Washington, nationwide: ‘This is a war on women’
May 21, 2019, 10:50 AM | Updated: 3:38 pm
From Seattle to Washington, D.C., abortion rights protesters took a stand against restrictive abortion laws Tuesday.
“Today we stand as one to demand that extreme politicians across the country hear us loud and clear: Access to safe and legal abortion is health care,” City Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez said, speaking to a “Stop the Ban” rally outside of Seattle City Hall.
Seattle City Councilwoman Lorena González speaks to crowd at abortion rights group’s “Stop The Ban” rally outside city hall. pic.twitter.com/UOpZTauYAF
— Aaron Granillo (@AaronKIROFM) May 21, 2019
Speaking after Gonzalez was state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who promised that “we will fight every inch of the way” to protect abortion rights.
Protesters nationwide gathered as the abortion debate intensifies nationwide.
“We will march forward and demand that we get the universal rights for every woman and child in this country,” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said.
The protests come after a wave of tough new anti-abortion laws were passed in several states, including Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio and Kentucky.
The move could force a showdown on abortion rights in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle are weighing in on the issue.
“There’s no getting around it. This is a frightening time. We can’t stop speaking out and making sure women are heard,” Sen. Patty Murray said.
“This is a war on women,” State Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said at Tuesday’s rally in Seattle.
“I feel strongly about it and all of that is working its way through courts,” countered President Donald Trump.
Presidential hopeful and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee also joined abortion rights advocates for their own Tuesday rally in Olympia.
“In every single state, a woman should have reproductive freedom, regardless of her ZIP code,” Inslee said. “The abortion bans we’ve seen across the country are an attack on women, plain and simple.”
Washington state has a law in place that forbids the state from denying or interfering with a woman’s right to choose abortion.
There were at least 17 rallies in the state Tuesday, from Bellingham to Vancouver, Wash., and on the eastern side of the state in Spokane, Yakima, Richland and Kennewick. One rally was held at Seattle City Hall at noon.
KIRO 7 TV Staff contributed to this report.
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