Crowds gathered at the Capitol building in Olympia and in Seattle’s Westlake Park Saturday, Oct. 2, to stand in defense of reproductive rights in the United States. The events came after the passage of an unprecedented Texas law that halted the vast majority of abortions in the state. The law allows private citizens to sue people they accuse of facilitating abortions after the detection of the fetal heartbeat for $10,000, plus attorney’s fees. This deadline is roughly six weeks into a pregnancy, before most people know that they’re pregnant. According to the Women’s March website, some 600 events were planned across the country including in Washington, D.C., where the U.S. Supreme Court reconvened Oct. 4. The court is expected to hear another case out of Mississippi that advocates say is a threat to abortion access in the country.
Read more of the Oct. 6-12, 2021 issue.