Women’s marches draw thousands on 50th anniversary of Roe ruling

MADISON, Wis. — Women’s marches demanding abortion rights drew thousands of people across the country on Sunday, the 50th anniversary of the now-overturned Roe v. Wade Supreme

Court decision that established federal protections for the procedure. Organizers focused on states after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe in June unleashed abortion

restrictions and near-total bans in more than a dozen states. “We are going to where the fight is, and that is at the state level,” reads the website for the Women’s

March. The group has dubbed this year’s rallies “Bigger than Roe.” The main march was held in Wisconsin, where upcoming state Supreme Court elections could determine the

court’s power balance and future abortion rights. But rallies were held in dozens of cities, including Florida’s state capital of Tallahassee, where Vice President Kamala Harris

gave a fiery speech before a boisterous crowd. “Can we truly be free if families cannot make intimate decisions about the course of their own lives?” Harris said.

In Madison, thousands of abortion rights supporters donned coats and gloves to march in below-freezing temperatures through downtown to the state Capitol. “It’s just

basic human rights at this point,” said Alaina Gato, a Wisconsin resident who joined her mother, Meg Wheeler, on the Capitol steps to protest. They said they plan to vote

in the April Supreme Court election. Wheeler also said she hoped to volunteer as a poll worker and canvass for Democrats, despite identifying as an independent voter.

“This is my daughter. I want to make sure she has the right to choose whether she wants to have a child,” Wheeler said.