LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday urged Americans to act at “a critical time in our nation’s history” as thousands of protesters demonstrated across the country against new limits on the right to abortion in court.
Saturday’s nationwide rallies were sparked by actions by the United States Supreme Court the day before, when the High Court intervened to delay rule changes that would have limited how the abortive drug mifepristone could be used and distributed. The limits have been suspended while the court considers the case further.
Harris made a surprise stop in Los Angeles at one of the rallies, where she called the latest abortion rights upheaval another conservative foray into a myriad of “basic rights” that many Americans thought to have.
“And so it’s a moment that history will show compelling each of us – based on our collective love for our country – to stand up, fight and protect our ideals. That’s what this is. moment,” she said Saturday, addressing several hundred protesters from the steps of City Hall. “When you attack women’s rights in America, you attack America.”
Some of the protesters expressed anger at the marches by the country’s High Court, which took action on Friday at the request of the federal justice ministry. The agency asked the High Court to lift restrictions on mifepristone imposed by a Texas appeals court earlier in the week. The appeals court ruling reduced the window of time the drug could be used and prevented distribution of the drug by mail.
Critics of the Texas court rulings and appellate courts, including drug companies, have seen the court actions as a dangerous intrusion on the authority of the FDA, which regulates how drugs are sold and used. in the USA.
Protesters in New York stood behind a sign with a four-letter expletive directed at Texas, where a federal judge has unleashed the latest salvo in the battle against abortion. They held signs urging the government to defend medical abortions.
But the crowd was small, drawing just over 100 outside the quaint public library along Fifth Avenue.
Still, protesters caught the eye of passers-by along the busy thoroughfare, with some briefly joining the group to lend their voices.
“It can be difficult to get people out because people are bombarded with all kinds of assaults on their bodies and people are tired and poor,” said Viva Ruiz, who said he helped organize the rally.
“The news cycle is so fast that when one thing happens, something terrible happens the next day, so it’s hard to keep up the momentum or the energy to get people out on the streets,” said Ruiz.
With few exceptions, many of the rallies — held under the banner of a group calling itself “Bigger than Roe” — have taken place in smaller towns.
Since the cancellation last year of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized the right to abortion, more than a dozen states effectively banned abortion, while other states moved to further tighten laws on abortion.
On Thursday, the GOP-dominated Florida Legislature became the latest state to ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
Restrictions on the delivery and use of mifepristone, part of a two-drug regimen to end a pregnancy, would be a further blow to abortion rights advocates. The other drug, misoprostol, can be used alone, but it is less effective than using the two drugs in combination.
When mifepristone was initially approved, the FDA limited its use to seven weeks of pregnancy. It also took three in-person office visits: the first to administer mifepristone, the next to administer the second drug, misoprostol, and the third to address any complications.
If the appeals court action stands, these would again be the conditions under which mifepristone could be dispensed.
States that support abortion rights, including California and New York, have started stockpiling misoprostol to ensure their states have adequate supplies. Washington State is among those stocking a stash of mifepristone or its generic form. And Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healey said the administration is committing $1 million to help vendors under contract with the Department of Public Health purchase additional quantities of mifepristone.
More than 5.6 million women in the United States had used mifepristone as of June 2022, according to the FDA. During that time, the agency received 4,200 reports of complications in women, less than a tenth of 1% of women who took the drug.
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Calvan reported from New York.
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