Sandy MaloneWashington, DC – Democratic lawmakers joined protesters in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday afternoon calling the justices’ decision to overturn Roe v. Wade “illegitimate” and promising to defy it.
“You see this turnout here?” U.S. Representative Maxine Waters (D-California) asked. “You ain’t seen nothing yet. Women are going to control their bodies no matter how they try and stop us.”
“The hell with the Supreme Court. We will defy them,” Waters vowed. “Women will be in control of their bodies.”
“And if they think black women are intimidated or afraid, they got another thought coming,” she continued. “Black women will be out in droves. We will be out by the thousands. We will be out by the millions. We’re going to make sure we fight for the right to control our own bodies.”
Unhinged AOC and Maxine Waters call for INSURRECTION after Supreme Court TEARS Roe v. Wade in half in historic decision
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 24, 2022
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) also joined demonstrators in front of the highest court in the land to call for more protests.
“We have to fill the streets,” Ocasio-Cortez yelled into a loudspeaker in front of the court. “Right now, elections are not enough… we need sand in every damned gear… elections alone are not going to save us. We need to show up – yeah at the ballot box, but that’s the bare minimum.”
AOC IN DC: “We have to fill the streets. Right now elections are not enough.” (From Huff Post) pic.twitter.com/PfKof99wqP
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) June 24, 2022
She was also spotted chanting that the Supreme Court’s ruling was “illegitimate” and urging Americans to go “into the streets” to protest the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
BREAKING: Congresswoman @AOC has arrived in front of the Supreme Court and is chanting that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade is “illegitimate” and calls for people to get “into the streets” | @TPUSA pic.twitter.com/jNkCYDrLtz
— Drew Hernandez (@DrewHLive) June 24, 2022
Critics and Republican lawmakers immediately hit back on social media.
“AOC just launched an insurrection. Any violence and rioting is a direct result of Democrat marching orders,” controversial U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) tweeted.
Ah, the tolerant left. Sounds an awful lot like an insurrection. pic.twitter.com/EgZEfYWCxW
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 24, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, ending Constitutional protections for abortions that have been in place since 1973.
The decision announced by the nation’s highest court on June 24 was expected to result in abortion bans in roughly half of the 50 states, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
The court voted 6-to-3 to uphold Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks, Bloomberg reported.
The justices also voted 5-to-4 to explicitly overturn Roe v. Wade and the rights it established almost 50 years ago.
They also overturned Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that reaffirmed Roe v. Wade, Bloomberg reported.
Planned Parenthood v. Casey said the 14th Amendment prevented states from imposing significant restrictions until about 23 weeks into a pregnancy, which is considered fetal viability.
The ruling was handed down more than a month after a leaked draft of the opinion that indicated that Supreme Court planned to reverse Roe v. Wade was published by the media, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Holly Matkin
