Abortion rights rallies being held across country, in New York City
NEW YORK -- The recent passage of strict abortion laws in some states is igniting widespread protests across the country.
Rallies in support of abortion rights are happening in all 50 states on Tuesday, including in New York City.
Demonstrators are upset with laws passed in Alabama, Georgia, Missouri and Mississippi.
Many of the rallies across the country took place in state houses, town squares, courthouses and directly in front of where the fight will likely land -- the Supreme Court.
Several Democrats running for president in 2020, among other lawmakers, participated in the rallies.
"Republican legislatures are waging a war to unravel a woman's fundamental rights," Sen. Charles Schumer said. "We are here to send these folks a message: Not on our watch."
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal once worked at the Supreme Court for Justice Harry Blackmun who wrote Roe v. Wade, which gave women a constitutional right to an abortion.
"And here we are again because there are groups and individuals and states that want to defy the United States Constitution," Blumenthal said at a rally Tuesday.
The protests come a week after Alabama enacted the strictest abortion law in the U.S. The state's ban makes abortion illegal in almost all cases, including cases of rape and incest.
"So the legislature underscores the sanctity of life that the people of Alabama value so highly," Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said.
Lawmakers in Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky and Mississippi have proposed similar bills.
Pastor Joni Lupis, with March for Life New York, released the following statement:
"There are pro-choice rallies taken place today in response to the new laws in Alabama and Missouri, because pro-choicers consider these laws extreme. March for Life New York considers the new RHA law by Governor Cuomo, which allows an abortion full term (9 months), and if the abortion fails and the baby is born alive, he or she can be left to die, EXTREME. Not only is it extreme, it is heartless. Cuomo's new law which allows a baby that is born alive to be left to die, is without doubt infanticide. MFLNY considers this law not only extreme, but illegal."
In response, March for Life New York has organized an anti-abortion rally at the New York State Capitol on June 3.
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