Thousands of abortion rights demonstrators took to the streets in New York City to protest news of the Supreme Court‘s leaked draft opinion in support of overturning Roe v. Wade.
Outraged protesters gathered in New York’s Foley Square on Tuesday following Politico’s Monday night publication of Justice Samuel Alito‘s leaked majority draft opinion to strike down the landmark law. Elected officials were among those who attended the rally and voiced their continued support for abortion rights and disapproval of the push to remove federal protections.
“We will not go backwards, we will not go back into those days when we used wire hangers,” New York Attorney General Letitia James told the crowd after sharing that she had an abortion while serving as a member of the City Council. “Not now, not ever. The right to control our bodies is a fundamental right enshrined in the 14th Amendment. And if they go after this right, who’s next?”
Other prominent figures who spoke at the demonstration included comedian Amy Schumer, who told the crowd, “I tell jokes, but this court is the joke,” according to Patch. Schumer reportedly said that the majority draft to reverse Roe was an example of the court “spitting in our faces.”
Thousands of protesters had arrived in Foley Square within an hour of the demonstration beginning. Images appearing online showed that many of those attending the rally wore green clothing, following a social media call urging protesters to “channel your rage into action.”
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) estimated that “at least” 3,000 people attended the protest in Foley Square, according to WPIX.
Additional protests were planned elsewhere in the city, including Washington Square Park and outside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. In Washington Square, a crowd of around 200 marching protesters could be heard chanting: “Whose streets? Our streets! Whose body? My body!”
In the leaked draft opinion, Alito wrote that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start.” Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed that the leak was authentic on Tuesday, although the Supreme Court’s final ruling is not expected to be released until at least next month.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul was one of many Democratic officials to express outrage at the opinion, warning in a press conference on Tuesday that the state would be “playing offense” should the decision to revoke the “fundamental right” of abortion become final.
A large crowd also gathered to protest the leaked draft outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, following a smaller protest Monday night. Several other rallies took place in cities across the country, as the group Women’s March called for local demonstrations nationwide at 5 p.m. local time Tuesday.
Newsweek reached out to the office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD for comment.
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