Melbourne failed to deal with anti-abortion protests on both sides of the debate, with police removing pro-abortion rights supporters who infiltrated the rally from an anti-abortion rights group.
Protesters shaved their heads on stage during the March of the Babies rally on Saturday before Victoria Police officers removed them from the stage.
Another man then held a ‘Women Live Freedom’ rally on stage, organized by former Liberal MP Bernie Finn.
They weren’t the only ones from the pro-abortion-rights camp to protest as part of the anti-abortion-rights rally.
As Mr Finn took to the stage, three men began to strip, displaying slogans written on T-shirts, with one shouting: “Our bodies, our rights”.
Two of them were picked up by the police, and another left soon after.
Police also clashed with pro-abortion-rights protesters as they staged a counter-protest to the March for Babies rally as police tried to prevent clashes between the two sides.
Protesters during the March of the Babies anti-abortion rally in Melbourne on Saturday, October 8, 2022. Source: AAP / JOEL CORRETT/AAPIMAGE
Anti-abortion protests took place in the United States as well
Thousands of people also marched in cities across the United States on Saturday to protest the Supreme Court’s overturning of federal abortion rights and to urge voters to take part in a Democratic “blue wave” in next month’s key midterm elections.
In Washington, a crowd of mostly women chanted, “We’re not coming back,” during the march.
They carried placards calling for a “feminist tsunami” and urged people to “vote for women’s rights.”
“I don’t want to go back to another time,” 18-year-old student Emily Bobal told AFP.
Demonstrators hold placards during a rally in support of abortion access and the codification of Roe v. Wade as law in Foley Square in New York on October 8, 2022. Source: Getty / AFP
“It’s kind of ridiculous that we still have to do this in 2022,” she said, adding that she was concerned that the conservative-dominated Supreme Court might next target same-sex marriage.
“Most of us are ready to go out and fight for democracy and fight for the bodily autonomy of people, women and men,” said Kimberly Allen, 70.
With Democrats fighting to maintain narrow control of Congress, the midterm elections could have a decisive impact on the future of such rights, she said.
Several marchers wore headbands or scarves in green, which symbolizes abortion rights.
Others wore blue — the color of the Democratic Party — and carried huge flags and banners urging a symbolic “blue wave” of voters to come to the polls on Nov. 8.
Anti-abortion protesters confront an abortion rights activist during a women’s rights rally in Foley Square on October 8, 2022 in New York City. Source: Getty / Gina Moon
Several counter-protesters announced their presence, some urging the crowd to “find Jesus Christ” while others shouted “abortion is murder”. They were met with a roar.
Similar rallies were held in New York and Denver, Colorado.
“#WomensWave goes out to EVERY anti-abortion politician, no matter where they live,” Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of the nonprofit Women’s March, said on Twitter.
She urged people to vote for “more women” as well as male candidates who support abortion rights.
Polls show Democrats have only a slim chance of retaining control of the House, but their chances are better in the evenly divided Senate, where Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is crucial.
While Republicans campaigned mainly on steep prices, immigration and urban crime, Democrats led by President Joe Biden want to shift the debate to abortion rights and protecting American democracy.
In June, the Supreme Court struck down decades of federal protections for abortion rights, leaving individual states to set their own rules.
Since then, several Republican-led states have banned or severely restricted access to the procedure, sparking a series of legal challenges.
An appeals court in the southwestern state of Arizona on Friday blocked — at least for now — a near-total abortion ban.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/abortion-rights-supporters-infiltrate-march-for-the-babies-rally-in-melbourne/0jhxkwa7s
