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Democracy

Here are over 30 of the best signs from the pro-choice demonstrations across America

Here are over 30 of the best signs from the pro-choice demonstrations across America

Demonstrators hold up signs at the Rally for Abortion Justice in Columbus, Ohio

The U.S. Supreme Court's swing to the right under the Trump presidency puts abortion rights in peril throughout the United States. The Court's decision not to act on a Texas law that bans abortions after about six weeks has opened the floodgates for other states to restrict freedoms.

The Texas law deputizes its citizens to report those who've had an abortion after the fetus has a heartbeat or anyone who assisted in the process. Reporters whose information leads to a successful conviction can be awarded up to $10,000 by the state.

The law is astonishing in a state that claims to value freedom. What's more authoritarian than paying your citizens to snitch on each other for their personal health decisions?


"No matter where you live, no matter where you are, this moment is dark," Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood, told the crowd at the Rally for Abortion Justice in Washington.

In December, the Court is set to hear another landmark case in which the state of Mississippi is asking the justices to strike down a longstanding legal precedent that prevents restrictions on abortion access before a fetus is viable outside of the womb, which is at around 22 to 24 weeks.

Mississippi wants to ban abortions after 15 weeks.

Legal experts believe that if the court sides with Mississippi it could lead to an "inevitable cascade" of laws that would ban abortion.

"The Supreme Court since Roe v. Wade has said that there's a right to choose abortion before viability," Mary Ziegler, a professor at Florida State University College of Law and author of the book, "Abortion and the Law in America: Roe v. Wade to the Present," told PBS.

"So if the court is going to uphold this law as we expect it to, the court will either have to overrule Roe entirely or we'll have to see that pre-viability bans are OK and potentially open the door to all kinds of legislation and to a decision overruling Roe down the road," she added.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of Americans stood up to support abortion rights at 660 rallies across the country. The rallies were organized by the Women's March, in partnership with more than 90 groups, including Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Center for American Progress.

"I think it's important to understand that pretty much everybody knows somebody that's had an abortion," Women's March Executive Director Rachel O'Leary Carmona told CNN.

"It's important for us to hear all these stories," she said. "It also is a bit of a tragedy that you know, folks have to put their pain out on display for us to be taken seriously. So what we're trying to do today is make sure we all lift our voices in solidarity with each other to make sure the folks in power hear our message."

While this is a dark time for women's rights in America, many who came out to the rallies used their creativity to express their anger at this unprecedented assault on women's rights.

Here are some of the most creative and powerful signs from Saturday's pro-choice rallies.
















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via Pixabay

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