US Women’s March 2024: Huge rally in DC to back Harris, abortion rights

Thousands of women have rallied in Washington, DC, in support of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and reproductive rights.

The vice president has made abortion rights a central plank of her White House bid against Republican Donald Trump, who appeared to have publicly backed the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that took away the constitutional right to an abortion.

“Voting for the candidate that’s going to support our rights as women is the most important thing to me,” said Leah Brooker, 19, who travelled from North Carolina to join the event on Saturday, three days before Election Day.

The student said she had already cast her ballot in early voting, calling it “very empowering that my first vote was for a woman”.

She held a sign reading: “If boys will be boys, then women will be presidents.”

Other signs had slogans like “Voting prevents unwanted presidencies” and “A woman’s place is in the Oval Office.”

Organisers estimated turnout was about 15,000 people. Other US cities also organised sister marches.

With the dome of the US Capitol as the backdrop, speakers at Freedom Plaza whipped up support for 60-year-old Harris.

“We’re not going back!” the crowd chanted, repeating one of Harris’s campaign slogans.

Retiree Marlene Wagner, 70, came from Nebraska, saying she was joining “for my grandkids and my children because I fear for their future”.

In her Midwestern state, abortion is banned after the 12th week of pregnancy.

The restriction came after US Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump tipped the panel in 2022 into ending the national right to abortion granted 50 years ago through the Roe v Wade verdict.

Abortion access is on the ballot in 10 states, in referendums that are taking place alongside the presidential vote.

In Nebraska, a proposal seeks to add abortion restrictions to the state constitution, while another seeks to extend the period in which the procedure is allowed.

For Wagner, who also participated in the first Women’s March in 2017 after Trump’s election, the choice was stark.

The abortion restrictions have “already had repercussions, because women haven’t been able to get the care they need”.