Thousands March for Reproductive Rights in D.C. (photos)

In what was promoted as a “Rally for Abortion Justice,” and concurrently as the “Fifth Women’s March,” supporters of reproductive rights demonstrated in over 600 cities throughout the country on Saturday, Oct. 2.

The largest of these took place in the nation’s capital where an overflow crowd gathered on Freedom Plaza before marching down Pennsylvania Avenue and past the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court Building.

They were infuriated by the high court’s decision to allow an oppressive Texas law to go into effect that bans abortion after 6 weeks. Most women would not even know that they are pregnant at that time. Another critical case currently before the court could weaken reproductive rights even further by challenging the current standing of the landmark Roe v. Wade case of 1973 that protects a person’s choice to have an abortion. 

The first Women’s March was held in 2017 on the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Saturday’s “March” would be the first since Trump left office, and taking place just two days before the Supreme Court was set to reconvene for its October term. It was announced on Sept. 2, the same day Texas’s new abortion legislation went into effect.

Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood, told the crowd in Washington, “Abortion is health care, basic health care, essential health care, health care that cannot wait.”

View a slideshow of Jeff Malet’s photos of the 2021 Women’s March in Washington D.C. by clicking on the photo icons below.

tagsabortionactivistsD.C.demonstrationdemonstratorsprotestprotestersSCOTUSsignsSupreme CourtWashingtonWomen's March