17 lawmakers arrested in Roe v. Wade protest
Ocasio-Cortez among high-profile members of Congress detained
WASHINGTON — Seventeen members of Congress, including Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota were among dozens of abortion rights protesters arrested Tuesday outside the Supreme Court in a rally demanding immediate action to protect abortion following the decision last month to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Thirty-five people were arrested for crowding, obstructing or incommoding a Washington, D.C., code often cited when arresting protesters during peaceful, planned and coordinated actions of civil disobedience like the demonstration Tuesday. Those arrested were cited and released, as is standard practice during events such as this, Tim Barber, a Capitol Police spokesman confirmed.
In the weeks following the Supreme Court’s decision, confusion surrounding new abortion-related laws has led to patients being denied much needed maternal health care.
At the time of the decision to overturn Roe, 13 states had “trigger bans,” designed to take effect to prohibit abortion within 30 days of the ruling. At least eight states banned the procedure the day the ruling was released.
Now, common complications, including incomplete miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies have now been scrutinized, delayed and even denied, according to the accounts of doctors in multiple states where new laws have gone into effect.
The abortion rights protesters Tuesday marched from the U.S. Capitol to the street in front of the Supreme Court, holding a large orange banner that reads, “Our Bodies. Our Courts. Our Democracy,” according to a livestream of the protest from the Center for Popular Democracy Action, a collective of liberal groups.
Once there, they remained in the street, despite warnings from authorities to disperse or risk arrest. Some sat in the street as the group chanted: “We won’t go back!”