Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Over a dozen Democratic Party lawmakers were among over two dozen arrested at an abortion rights protest on Tuesday (July 19). Included in that group were some of the more progressive members of the party, and it appears that their efforts at the event are just the start of their overall push.
As reported by local outlets NBC Washington and The Hill, 17 Democratic lawmakers were arrested amid a total of 35 overall according to the U.S. Capitol Police.
Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Jackie Speier, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Katherine Clark, Andy Levin, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Alma Adams, Veronica Escobar, and Carolyn Maloney were some of the published names on the arrest list.
Rep. Maloney issued a statement in the wake of the arrest that signaled this is just the beginning of the opposition to the controversial decision from the nation’s highest court that deeply affected abortion rights.
From Rep. Maloney’s website:
There is no democracy if women do not have control over their own bodies and decisions about their own health, including reproductive care. I have the privilege of representing a state where reproductive rights are respected and protected — the least I can do is put my body on the line for the 33 million women at risk of losing their rights. The Republican Party and the right-wing extremists behind this decision are not pro-life, but pro-controlling the bodies of women, girls, and any person who can become pregnant. Their ultimate goal is to institute a national ban on abortion. We will not let them win. We will be back.
Rep. Speier shared in a tweet, “Proud to march with my Democratic colleagues including @DemWomenCaucus members, and get arrested for women’s rights, abortion rights, the rights for people to control their own bodies and the future and our democracy! #BansOffOurBodies #WeWontGoBack.”
The U.S. Supreme Court has been under fire after overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that protected abortion rights. While the U.S. House of Representatives passed a pair of pills under a push by House Democrats, those bills will most likely not turn into laws as the 100-member U.S. Senate body is politically split down the middle.
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