| 2021 Women's March | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Women's rights movement | |
 | |
| Date | October 2, 2021 |
| Location | United States |
| Methods | Protest march |
A women's march was held on October 2, 2021, in protest of a recent abortion law in the U.S. state of Texas, the Texas Heartbeat Act. [1] The demonstration was announced on September 2. [2] More than 90 organizations participated. [3] Although organizers of the Washington, D.C. march applied for a permit for 10,000 people, [4] actual attendance was around 5,000. [5]
Roughly 5,000 attendees in Washington D.C. met in Freedom Plaza [5] and marched to the United States Supreme Court Building. Speakers at the rally included Cristela Alonzo, Schuyler Bailar, activist Monica Simpson, [6] and Planned Parenthood president Alexis McGill Johnson. [7]
Several cities in Texas held events. In Austin thousands gathered on the lawn of the Texas Capitol building, [8] where speakers included Cecile Richards, a Texan and former president of Planned Parenthood. [9]
Marches also took place in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. [7]
Some attendees wore t-shirts with "1973" printed on them, which is the year of the Roe v. Wade court decision that legalized abortion throughout the United States. [10] Many speakers warned of a looming threat to this court decision. [11]
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an abortion prior to the point of fetal viability. The decision struck down many State abortion laws, and it sparked an ongoing abortion debate in the United States about whether, or to what extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, and what the role of moral and religious views in the political sphere should be. The decision also shaped debate concerning which methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication.
The March for Life is an annual rally and march against the practice and legality of abortion, held in Washington, D.C., either on or around the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a decision legalizing abortion nationwide which was issued in 1973 by the United States Supreme Court. The participants in the march have advocated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which happened at the end of the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on June 24, 2022. It is a major gathering of the anti-abortion movement in the United States and it is organized by the March for Life Education and Defense Fund.
Abortion in Texas is illegal in most cases. There are nominally exceptions to save the mother's life, or prevent "substantial impairment of major bodily function", but the law on abortion in Texas is written in such an ambiguous way that life-threatening or harmful pregnancies do not explicitly constitute an exception. Attempts to clarify and codify these exceptions into law have been rejected by Republican lawmakers in Texas.
Abortion in Missouri is nominally legal up to the point of fetal viability as a result of 2024 Missouri Amendment 3 taking effect on December 6, 2024, 30 days after the November 5, 2024 general election. Although it is legal, legal challenges to allow access are ongoing.
Abortion in Illinois is legal up to the point of fetal viability. Laws about abortion dated to the early 1800s in Illinois; the first criminal penalties related to abortion were imposed in 1827, and abortion itself became illegal in 1867. As hospitals set up barriers in the 1950s, the number of therapeutic abortions declined. Following Roe v. Wade in 1973, Illinois passed a number of restrictions on abortion, many of which have subsequently been repealed. Illinois updated its existing abortion laws in June 2019. The state has seen a decline in the number of abortion clinics over the years, going from 58 in 1982 to 47 in 1992 to 24 in 2014.
Abortion in Arizona is legal up to the point of fetal viability as a result of Arizona Proposition 139 being put into the Arizona state constitution. It is the southernmost continental state where abortion is broadly protected.
Abortion in Colorado is legal at all stages of pregnancy. It is one of seven states without any term restrictions as to when a pregnancy can be terminated.
Abortion in Connecticut is legal up to the point of fetal viability, or after that if necessary to preserve the life or health of the pregnant individual. A poll by the Pew Research Center found that 67 percent of adults in the state believed that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. The 2023 American Values Atlas reported that, in their most recent survey, 72% of people from Connecticut said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Abortion in the District of Columbia is legal at all stages of pregnancy. In 1971, in United States v. Vuitch, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law saying abortion was allowed for health reasons, which include "psychological and physical well-being". Consequently, the District of Columbia became a destination for women seeking abortions starting that year.
Abortion in Montana is legal up to the point of fetal viability. The number of abortion clinics in Montana has fluctuated over the years, with twenty in 1982, twelve in 1992, eight providers of which seven were clinics in 2011, and five clinics in 2014. There were four clinics from 2015 to February 2018 when All Families Healthcare clinic in Whitefish reopened. There were 1,690 legal abortions in 2014, and 1,611 in 2015.
Abortion in Ohio is legal up to the point of fetal viability as a result of abortion rights being placed into the Ohio State Constitution by November 2023 Ohio Issue 1.
Abortion in Oregon is legal at all stages of pregnancy. The Center for Reproductive Rights classifies Oregon as highly protective of abortion rights.
Abortion in South Dakota is illegal. Anyone who induces an abortion is guilty of a Class 6 felony. An exception is included to "preserve the life of the pregnant female," given appropriate and reasonable medical judgment.
Abortion in Tennessee is illegal from fertilization except to "prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman". Tennessee is one of four states which prohibit abortion in their state constitution; alongside Alabama, Louisiana, and West Virginia.
Abortion in Wisconsin has been legal since September 18, 2023, before which its legal status had been unclear since the overturn of Roe v Wade, and is performed in Madison, Milwaukee and Sheboygan through 22 weeks gestation. However, elective abortions in Wisconsin are under dispute after the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 24, 2022. Abortion opponents cite an 1849 law that they claim bans the procedure in all cases except when the life of the mother is in danger. However, lower level courts have argued that the law only applies to infanticide and not consensual abortions. The enforceability of the law is disputed and being considered by the state courts. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced that they would resume abortion services in Madison and Milwaukee on September 18, 2023. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin later announced that they would resume abortion services in Sheboygan on December 28, 2023.
Abortion in California is legal up to the point of fetal viability. An abortion ban was in place by 1900, and by 1950, it was a criminal offense for a woman to have an abortion. In 1962, the American Law Institute published their model penal code, as it applied to abortions, with three circumstances where they believed a physician could justifiably perform an abortion, and California adopted a version of this code. In 2002, the California State Legislature passed a law guaranteeing women the right to have an abortion "prior to viability of the fetus, or when the abortion is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman". In 2022, 67% of California voters approved Proposition 1, which amended the Constitution of California to explicitly protect the right to abortion and contraception.
Abortion in New Mexico is legal at all stages of pregnancy. The number of abortion clinics in New Mexico has declined over the years, with 26 in 1982, 20 in 1992 and 11 in 2014. There were 4,500 legal abortions in 2014. There were 7 facilities providing abortion in New Mexico in 2017, and 6 of those were clinics. In 2017, 91% of New Mexico counties had no clinics that provided abortions, and 48% of New Mexico women lived in those counties.
A series of ongoing protests supporting abortion rights and anti-abortion counter-protests began in the United States on May 2, 2022, following the leak of a draft majority opinion for the U.S. Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which stated that the Constitution of the United States does not confer any reproductive rights, thus overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court officially overturned Roe and Casey in Dobbs, resulting in further protests outside of the U.S. Supreme Court building and across the country, eventually to major cities across the world both in favor of and against the decision.
Media related to 2021 Women's March at Wikimedia Commons