Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com
WASHINGTON, D.C.-In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last month, Women’s March National led thousands of pro-choice marchers via a rally in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sat July 9, 2022, the continual rain not detering them. (Editor's note: Roe v Wade is the 1973 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal nationwide)
Protesters gathered at Franklin Square just blocks away from the White House and after listening to speeches eventually converged in front of the White House to send a message to President Joe Biden who, on Friday, issued an executive order aimed at curtailing the devastating impact of the Supreme Court's Roe v Wade decision. While there the protesters did a sit-in and dozens were arrested after refusing to disperse per police orders.
The president's executive order includes instructions to the Justice Department to make sure women can travel out-of-state for abortion care, addresses the elevated risks for patients, providers and clinics, and directs Attorney General Merrick Garland and the White House counsel to convene volunteer lawyers and organizations According to the president, it is designed to "encourage robust legal representation of patients, providers, and third parties lawfully seeking or offering reproductive health care services throughout the country."
Biden’s controversial executive order also says that the federal government will provide leave for federal workers traveling for medical care,
Saturday's White House rally comes just three days after the president visited Cleveland for a speech on the economy and was met with protesters, led by Women's March Cleveland and its head organizer Kathy Wray Coleman, who demanded that he address the fallout from Roe v Wade as well as heigntnened gun violence against women and others, Black people in particular.
While the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v Wade in a Jackson Mississippi case dubbed Jackson vs Mississippi Health Organization as to a state law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, it also noted that state legislatures across the country would have authority to regulate and readily outlaw abortion in respective states.
Ten states have outlawed abortion, eight have pending abortion bans set to take effect sometime this year, and four, including Ohio, Tennessee, and Florida, have abortion restrictions.
The inaugural Women's March was a nationwide protest held on Jan 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration of then president Donald Trump. It was spearheaded by Women's March on Washington and prompted in part by statements Trump made during and after his campaign for president against then Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. It was the largest single-day protest in U.S. history with nearly five million women and their supporters marching in sister marches in major and other cities nationwide. In Cleveland that year some 15,000 women and their supporters protested.
A goal of many of the marches is to advocate for legislation and policies regarding human rights and other issues, including women's rights, educational equity, reproductive rights, environmental justice, LGBTQ rights, racial inequality, poverty, freedom of religion, workers' rights, equal pay and police and criminal justice reform.
Now led by executive director Rachael O'Leary Carmona, Women's March National, a non profit organization for women's rights, is governed by a 16-member board of directors.
By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor. Coleman is a seasoned Black Cleveland journalist who trained at the Call and Post Newspaper for 17 years and an experienced investigative and political reporter. She is the most read independent journalist in Ohio per Alexa.com
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL