“Without an abortion, I wouldn’t be here,” said Mrs. Raines, who was standing in the square with her 5-month-old daughter, Hendrix, and her 3-year-old son, Jagger. In her fifth month of pregnancy in November 2020, she said she was starting to lose large amounts of blood, forcing her medical doctors to perform an abortion to save her life.
“I really wanted my daughter,” she said, “but I was bleeding and there was nothing they could do.”
For some, protesting against the draft opinion was not just about defending the right to abortion.
Lillian Penafiel, 35, and her 44-year-old wife, Amy Penafiel, are worried about what the court’s ruling could mean about equality in marriage, LGBTQ rights and voting rights.
“They were very clear, especially what was written, that our rights would also be threatened, so we are nervous,” said Amy Penafiel. “They come after all this.”
Many parents came with their children. Sonia Reiter, 41, who is pregnant, brought her 5-year-old son, Casio Coleman, on the march to educate him about the importance of choice, she said.
“Cassio, how did we talk about today’s protest, what did we say?” Mrs. Reiter asked her son. “If someone wants to be pregnant, they have to be pregnant – and if they don’t want to be pregnant?”
“No,” he replied, beaming at his mother.
In Los Angeles, protesters marched in Grand Park in front of City Hall and chanted phrases like “We will not return, we will not back down!” Approximately 5,000 people were available.
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