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About a thousand people rallied Saturday at Philadelphia City Hall as part of the “Bans Off Our Bodies” march. It was one of more than 600 similar gatherings across the U.S., including a large protest that drew thousands to Washington DC.
The issue of the day was reproductive rights, as the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing access to abortions faces its most serious threat in decades.
Keynote speakers planned for the Women’s March rally included City Council members Kendra Brooks and Cherelle Parker; lawyer Kathryn Kolbert, who cofounded the Center for Reproductive Rights; and Signe Espinoza, interim executive director of Planned Parenthood Pa. Advocates, according to the @WomensMarchphi Twitter account.
The event was planned by Jefferson therapist Kelly Kostelich and Penn Medicine physician Benjamin Abella, according to WHYY.
Many Philly protesters carried signs mentioning Texas, which recently passed one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation. The Supreme Court has refused to block the Texas law, and is slated to take up other cases that could overturn Roe — something recent polls show Americans oppose by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio.
Other signs paid tribute to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who was replaced on the court by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative Catholic who has written that abortion is “always immoral.” Coney Barrett will be one of the justices hearing arguments scheduled for Dec. 1 on a case concerning Mississippi’s latest abortion ban.
Slogans spotted at the Philly Women’s March include:
- “I’m wit her”
- “Girls just wanna have fun-damental rights”
- “Regulate deez nuts”
- “Mind your own uterus”
- “Abortion is healthcare”
- “Texas: Where a woman has reproductive rights, and a woman doesn’t”
Scroll down to check out some of the signs and scenes posted online from Philadelphia’s rally.
