Two weeks after the Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion, Christian fascists and Proud Boys marched through Santa Monica, California.  They held a “Babies Lives Matter” rally and marched to the local Planned Parenthood, surrounded it and forced it to close early.  Several of the Proud Boys who marched were known participants in the attempted coup on January 6, 2021.  After last Saturday, July 10, they announced their intention to protest again July 16.

In the face of this, the LA Chapter of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights called for a mass rally and march: “We Won't Bow Down To Fascists! Abortion On Demand & Without Apology! Demand The Federal Government Restore Legal Abortion Nationwide Now!”

Their call for this read, “Those of us who care about the future, must do what the fascists fear most: overwhelm them with our numbers. Rally and march, nonviolently and in our diversity, to repudiate the fascists in the Supreme Court, legislatures and on the streets.”

Close to 150 rallied and marched in response to this call.  “Control over women is what they want, furious women is what they've got!  We won't back down, we won't submit. We will not take this fascist shit!” echoed off the walls of downtown Santa Monica in a march from Santa Monica City Hall to the local Planned Parenthood.  Tourists and locals joined in the march, which ended with a support rally near Planned Parenthood, where a smaller group organized a clinic defense.  Rise Up held a mass speakout and stayed until after 3 pm, when it was clear the fascists, who rallied nearby, felt they could NOT march to terrorize the clinic. 

This fascist march through one of the “bluest cities” in a blue state is a part of a developing strategy, and coming together, of the longstanding anti-abortion fanatics with the harder-core MAGA fascist, militia forces.  The Proud Boys marched at the beginning of this year’s “March for Life” in San Francisco, the Patriot Front joined the Chicago March for Life.  There have been three times as many anti-abortion protests involving these hard core fascists than in previous years and they are announcing plans for more in coming weeks.

As the Rise Up call for the July 16 protest said, “Some of the fascists who were gloatingly chanting, ‘overturned it,’ last Saturday are some of the same fascist MAGA mobs who were part of the January 6 attempted insurrection. They have already shown us that they have no respect for women, humanity and the rule of law. These fascists have a two-pronged strategy—moving to install a theocratic dark ages through the legal mechanisms of the courts and legislatures, and through extra-legal means of violence and force, including in so-called ‘sanctuary states.’”

At the opening Rise Up rally, people spoke about the stakes of this moment, the danger of the overturning of the right to abortion, what this will mean for women and the future of society, and how the fascists are not stopping here.  Mike Pence and other theocrats have said they are planning to go for a federal ban on abortion, the ending of gay marriage and LGBTQ rights, voting rights and more... through the courts and legislatures, and violently enforcing this with stormtroopers in the streets.  One Rise Up organizer talked about who the Proud Boys are and how they are organizing for a one-sided civil war.  Another, new organizer took on the argument (which someone raised to her just a few days before), “Why are you guys even protesting here in California?  You know we’re safe here right?”  She argued that this, “is a complete ILLUSION.  It’s a pacifier meant to keep us quiet... we need to realize that these women-hating fascists have a larger agenda that stems from patriarchal Christian ideology, an agenda that we MUST continue to fight.”  Pointing to why we had to march Saturday, July 16, Proud Boys shutting down a clinic “doesn't scream sanctuary state.” 

Noche Diaz, national spokesperson for the Revolution Clubs brought to life the extreme dangers of the situation we're in, what this Christian fascism is and  how and why it's taken hold in this society... briefly speaking to how the divisions cannot be resolved within the framework of this system that has held since the Civil War... what that opens up both in terms of the potential of an all-out fascist America but also what it opens up in terms of the potential for a revolutionary opening, why Bob Avakian has recognized that this is a rare time that makes revolution possible.  And he put a challenge to people there to dig into this seriously... not to listen to all the anti-communist slander and dismissal, but to dig urgently into these questions. The Revolution Club also presented as a serious force throughout the day. 

The mass speakout, held next to the Planned Parenthood clinic, included a whole range of voices talking about the urgency of this moment; some people told their abortion stories, a healthcare provider talked about the danger to women and the looming criminalization of doctors.  In the face of some narrow snarking and sniping and attacks on both Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, and the revcoms that were there in their own right, there were calls for unity and some taking on these attacks (though we need to continue to do this more frontally, exposing what these attacks are all about: keeping people demobilized in the face of defeat, and keeping them away from revolution). 

There was a tension throughout the day, waiting to see if the fascists would march to Planned Parenthood.  And it was significant that so many people—from different ages, background and perspectives—saw the need to put themselves on the line to stop this.

In building for this protest, Rise Up reached out to city council people and local religious institutions.  While people were deeply concerned about the danger of this attack, there was not the requisite response from these broader forces throughout society.  This is something to go to work on, sharply challenging people that, as the Rise Up call for July 16’s protest said: “If you do not want to see women forced by the state to bear children against their will, if you do not want to see LGBTQ people violently driven back into the closet, the rule through open white supremacy and terror, now is the time to show up. Now is the time for courage. We outnumber them but our numbers need to be visible—not cowering in our homes alone—but acting with determination, nonviolence, diversity.  NOW is the time to stand up, together, as if our lives depend upon it—for, in fact, they do.”