Matthew Kaplan Photography

Women's March for Reproductive Rights - 10/2/21 - Chicago

Thousands gathered in Daley Plaza for a march through the loop on Saturday, sending a message of support for women's reproductive rights to the U.S. Supreme Court, who are set to start their new term on Monday. With the recent decision not to stay enforcement of the Texas six week abortion ban, and with  arguments scheduled on Mississippi's new law limiting a women's abortion rights to 15 weeks, many court watchers think this term will see the conservative court, with three Trump appointees, overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case which affirmed a women's right to control over her own body.

A small group of anti-abortion demonstrators made their own case at the protest, some with grisly photos, others brandishing bibles. The counter protestors filtered into the crowd from time to time, and green vested event staff would step in to keep the opposing sides apart. "Be honest, you support cold blooded murder!" preached one anti-abortion demonstrator in a teeshirt, displaying a gruesome poster. "You support controlling women!" came the loud reply.

"Babies lives matter" shouted a women in a blue shirt carrying a rather ambiguous sign reading "save our state". She was answered through a bullhorn at close range, with the retort "Women's lives matter!".

I did notice a small act of civility between a person in the crowd and the blue shirted women. When her rainbow-eared headpiece fell off in the jostling, a pro-choice protestor retrieved it for her, and was thanked for the gesture.

Saturday's protest was part of a nationwide day of action, in which tens of thousands of Americans asserted their strong support of a woman's right to make her own reproductive decisions.