周二，几名众议院民主党人在最高法院外抗议其决定时被捕推翻宪法保护堕胎权。
这群民主党议员和其他人从国会大厦游行到高等法院，同时高呼“我们不会回去”和“我们的身体是我们的选择”——这是上个月五名保守派法官裁定推翻1973年罗伊诉韦德案裁决后的最新示威，该裁决首次在全国范围内使堕胎合法化。
总共有17名议员被捕，根据国会警察的说法包括马萨诸塞州众议员凯瑟琳·克拉克、纽约州众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯、明尼苏达州众议员伊尔汉·奥马尔和伊利诺伊州众议员扬·沙科夫斯基。警方说，指控是拥挤、妨碍或妨碍交通。
最高法院的官员告诉抗议者，他们正在参加“非法示威活动”，然后建议任何不想被逮捕的人离开，这引发了该团体的歌唱和呼喊。
警察随后开始逮捕示威者，但没有看到手铐。警察还收集了身份证明，给那些被逮捕的人拍照，包括一些立法者，并把水带到示威区给抗议者喝。
周二的活动是民主党继续强调最高法院重大裁决的努力的一部分，这使得实现全国至少十几个州严格限制或完全禁止堕胎。
在声明中，立法者发誓他们将继续为保护堕胎权而斗争。
“极端主义的共和党决心让我们回到过去，剥夺我们的权利。克拉克在一份声明中说:“当他们继续横冲直撞时，我拒绝袖手旁观。”。“我感到愤怒和心碎，我将自豪地为我们堕胎的权利和我们所有的宪法权利而斗争。他们可以逮捕我，但我们不会允许他们逮捕自由。”
“如果妇女不能控制自己的身体，不能决定自己的健康，包括生殖保健，就没有民主。我很荣幸代表一个生育权受到尊重和保护的州——我至少可以为3300万面临失去生育权风险的女性献出自己的身体，”纽约州民主党众议员卡罗琳·马洛尼(Carolyn Maloney)在自己的声明中补充道。
法院的裁决受到了保守派的广泛赞扬，却遭到了堕胎权利支持者的广泛抗议。
自由州的民主党人努力将堕胎保护纳入法律。但在联邦层面，鉴于共和党的反对和不愿改变参议院的规则，立法者一直难以通过类似的立法。
众议院民主党人本周通过了两项法案一个是编纂Roe诉Wade案，另一个是保护个人前往其他州进行合法堕胎的权利。然而，这些措施预计不会获得足够的支持，以50比50的比例在参议院通过。
Ocasio-Cortez, other House Democrats arrested in Supreme Court abortion rights protest
Several House Democrats were arrested on Tuesday while protesting outside the Supreme Court over its decisionto overturn constitutional protectionsfor abortion access.
The group of Democratic lawmakers and others marched over to the high court from the Capitol while chanting "we won't go back" and "our body our choice" -- the latest demonstration after five conservative justices ruled last month to reverse the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that first legalized abortions nationwide.
Seventeen lawmakers in total were arrested,according to Capitol Police, including Reps. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Illinois' Jan Schakowsky. The charge was crowding, obstructing or incommoding, police said.
Officers at the Supreme Court told the protesters that they were participating in "illegal demonstration activity" before advising anyone who didn't want to get arrested to leave, which sparked singing and chanting from the group.
Representatives Andy Levin and Rashida Tlaib are detained during an abortion rights protest outside of the Supreme Court, July 19, 2022.
Sarah Silbiger/Reuters
Officers then began arresting the demonstrators, though no handcuffs were seen. Police also collected IDs and took pictures of those arrested -- including of some of the lawmakers -- and brought water to the staging area for protesters to drink.
Tuesday's event was part of Democrats' efforts to continue highlighting the Supreme Court's blockbuster decision,which allowed the implementationof stringent abortion restrictions or outright bans in at least a dozen states across the country.
In statements, the lawmakers vowed they would keep fighting to protect abortion access.
"The extremist Republican Party is determined to take us back in time and take away our rights. I refuse to stand on the sidelines as their rampage continues," Clark said in a statement. "I am furious and heartbroken, and I will proudly fight for our right to abortion and all of our Constitutional rights. They can arrest me, but we won’t allow them to arrest freedom."
"There is no democracy if women do not have control over their own bodies and decisions about their own health, including reproductive care. I have the privilege of representing a state where reproductive rights are respected and protected — the least I can do is put my body on the line for the 33 million women at risk of losing their rights," Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., added in her own statement.
The court's ruling, widely celebrated by conservatives, was met with widespread protests by abortion rights supporters.
Democrats in liberal states have pushed efforts to enshrine abortion protections into law. But at the federal level, lawmakers have struggled to pass similar legislation, given GOP opposition and reluctance to change Senate rules.
House Democratsthis week passed two bills, one to codify Roe v. Wade and another to protect a person's right to travel to other states for legal abortions. However, those measures are not expected to have sufficient support to pass the 50-50 Senate.
