Abortion rights march draws hundreds to downtown Las Vegas

Hundreds of Las Vegas Valley residents marched done downtown connected Saturday, joining protests crossed the state successful enactment of termination entree and reproductive rights.

About 700 radical signed up for the demonstration, said Jeri Burton, the president of Nevada’s section of the National Organization for Women, which helped signifier Las Vegas’ Women’s March connected Saturday. Hundreds of radical chanting and waving signs gathered astatine the Lloyd George U.S. Courthouse earlier the march, which stretched for blocks arsenic demonstrators walked the magnitude of the Fremont Street Experience tunnel.

“A batch of people, erstwhile they saw what happened successful Texas, we started getting telephone calls saying, ‘What are we going to do?’” Burton said.

Many of the speakers who addressed the assemblage earlier the march referenced the caller Texas instrumentality that has banned astir abortions successful the authorities since aboriginal September and is considered the astir restrictive termination instrumentality successful the U.S.

On Friday, the Biden medication urged a national justice to artifact the law, which is 1 of a bid of cases that whitethorn punctual the Supreme Court to uphold oregon overrule Roe v. Wade, The Associated Press reported.

The Women’s March has go a regular lawsuit since erstwhile President Donald Trump’s inauguration successful January 2017. Nationwide protests were held Saturday successful cities that included Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Albany, New York, the AP reported.

Aiko Smith, 36, held a agleam pinkish motion speechmaking “Abort the Patriarchy.” Smith said she went to the march connected Saturday to enactment women successful Texas and different states with restrictions to abortion.

“It’s important that everybody uses their privilege, which is their voice, to talk for women that are being silenced,” Smith said.

Nevada extortion ‘locked in’

Nevada Democratic Rep. Dina Titus addressed the assemblage anterior to the march, emphasizing that Nevada enacted a authorities instrumentality successful 1990 that “locked in” Roe v. Wade for the state.

Nevadans in 1990 approved Question 7, which codified a statute allowing abortions wrong the archetypal 24 weeks of pregnancy. The determination means that if the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, Nevada would apt not beryllium affected.

But federally, Titus said the Senate needs to walk a nationalist instrumentality that would guarantee termination entree crossed the country.

“We can’t person a Supreme Court that chips distant astatine it and yet overturns it,” Titus said. “And that yet is coming sooner alternatively than later.”

Sy Bernabei, the enforcement manager of Gender Justice Nevada, told the assemblage to retrieve that trans and nonbinary radical besides person a dependable successful the reproductive rights movement.

“I place arsenic a nonbinary, but I besides person a uterus,” Bernabei said arsenic the assemblage cheered.

Burton said the organizers made a constituent to invitation divers groups to the march. Other speakers who addressed the assemblage spoke astir the intersection of termination entree with migrant rights, racism and healthcare.

As speakers addressed the crowd, a tiny radical of counter-protesters carrying anti-abortion and pro-life signs appeared successful beforehand of the courthouse. Many of the Women’s March demonstrators stood adjacent the counter-protesters and blocked their signs, but the march remained peaceful.

‘We request to support each other’

State Sen. Pat Spearman, D-North Las Vegas, was the past talker to code the assemblage earlier the march began, and she specifically called retired the counter-protesters.

“All of those who are astir the perimeter, who are trying to drown retired our voices, fto maine inquire you this question: if you truly attraction astir the kid successful the womb, past Black lives volition substance …” Spearman said, the remainder of her code drowned retired by the shouting and cheering crowd.

Starting astatine noon, the assemblage spent an hr walking done downtown Las Vegas and the Fremont Street Experience, chanting phrases specified arsenic “Abortion is wellness care” and “They accidental nary choice, we accidental pro-choice.”

Madeleine Phillips, 25, carried a motion speechmaking “Don’t tread connected me,” referencing the iconic emblem with the aforesaid saying and a depiction of a snake. The snake connected Phillips’ motion was curled into the signifier of a uterus.

Phillips said she attended the march to dependable her absorption to laws restricting abortions, and to enactment others successful the reproductive rights movement.

“We request to support each other,” she said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg astatine knewberg@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg connected Twitter.