According to CNN research, similar demonstrations are planned across the country over the weekend. Organizations that organize events include companies such as Planned Parenthood, Pons of Ever Bodies and Women’s March.
Late on Friday, law enforcement agencies in Arizona used tear gas to disperse a crowd of abortion rights activists protesting outside the Phoenix state capital.
“Troops fired tear gas as protesters repeatedly knocked on the glass doors of the state Senate building,” Bart Graves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Security, told CNN.
The mob then drove across the street to Wesley Bolin Plaza, where police used tear gas after a monument was damaged, Graves said.
The protests come after several Arizona abortion providers said they had suspended abortion services prematurely due to a lack of legal clarity on the matter, according to posts on their websites.
“As I heard it, some people crashed into the senate windows or broke them, and then the DPS threw smoke bombs to disperse the crowd. Chaos for a while,” Wilmot tweeted.
Protests took place outside the Supreme Court
In the country’s capital, one of the protesters led the way in front of the Supreme Court, shouting “Hands off! Hands off!” And “My body! My will!” Call and answer.
“It’s illegal. It’s illegal to have an abortion,” the woman said. “Forced motherhood is illegal.”
Protesters asked those in attendance to donate to abortion advocates and to purchase abortion pills for distribution to others.
Opponents of the right to abortion also appeared before the Supreme Court. After the end, one person – standing among the boards including “Row is dead” and “I’m post-Row” – sprayed champagne in the air over the others at the celebration. Dozens of abortion-rights protesters were at the scene that afternoon, but by the evening they appeared to have left the crowd.
Thousands marched in the streets of Greenwich, New York, chanting slogans. A slogan directed the f-word on Judge Brett Kavanagh. There were some anti-abortion activists in the march, but they had a low profile and did not see the CNN group walking with the protesters.
In Atlanta, several hundred people gathered in front of the Capitol in two separate demonstrations. Almost all the people protested against this decision. A CNN group spotted a protester where a group began its march a few miles away.
In Texas, a large crowd gathered in front of a federal court in Austin. People picked up the microphone to tell stories with fear and frustration. Some carried placards saying “Pro-life is a lie, they don’t care if we die”.
In Washington, DC, an abortion rights activist climbed to the top of the Frederick Douglas Memorial Bridge, which was later closed. Guido Reichstadter posted videos and photos on social media from the top of the bridge, where he unfurled a large green banner. Green is recognized as a symbol of abortion rights.
Reichstadter planted a flag on the bridge that read, “Do not step on my womb.”
While many in the United States oppose the Supreme Court ruling, he tells CNN that their support is largely inactive and that it is not enough to secure access to abortions for women across the country.
CNN’s Camila Bernal, Gary Tuchman, Whitney Wild, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Sharif Paget, Sara Smart, Natasha Chen and Nick Valencia contributed to the report.
“Lifelong social media lover. Falls down a lot. Creator. Devoted food aficionado. Explorer. Typical troublemaker.”