Monday, June 27—There was a very good, spirited march of about 300 people in downtown LA against the Supreme Court decision striking down Roe v. Wade. This was in response to a call from Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights LA for “Wherever you are @ 2 pm on June 27, walk out” and to gather at 3 pm at the federal courthouse downtown. The word spread mainly on social media. It was also announced in the mainstream media ahead of time on KCRW, KNX, and other local news stations. A tweet from a Los Angeles Times photojournalist, with pictures from the march, said “Green washes over downtown #LosAngeles as the #abortionrights movement builds to a fever pitch after #scotus scuttles #RoeVsWade @riseup4abortion…”
Among those who came out: a contingent of about 20 people walked out of the labs from CalTech (California Institute of Technology), a couple of people came from the Center for Diversity in Science at UCLA, a doctor spoke powerfully and emotionally about how women will suffer and many die from botched abortions. A nurse and organizer with Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights talked about the nightmare when women's wombs become crime scenes. There were a number of high school students, someone who is nonbinary spoke about wanting to fight for women, a woman from Argentina talked about being part of the green wave there and the importance of staying in the streets. There were a lot of calls for unity, for setting aside our differences and coming together NOW. Someone who is brand new with Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights LA spoke, inviting people to be part of the disruptive, decentralized die-ins being organized for Wednesday and she did a whole thing about the need to confront people with the horror of abortion being made illegal, and that we have to make people angry to inspire them to act. Overall, there were tears, a lot of heaviness in the agitation—and FURY.
People were responsive to the demand being raised by Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights: the federal government must restore nationwide legal abortion now—and overall to the challenge of people stepping out and acting on the urgency of the situation. One thing to note, in this protest and in being out among the people after the Supreme Court decision: the challenge to stand with the women of the world, with the people of the world, gets a resounding applause and appreciation.
The march seemed to be mainly made up of young women—some late teens, but mainly in their 20s to 30s; multinational, mainly white and Latina, some Black; a small but serious percentage of men. There were good signs in the crowd: against Christian fascism, “I'm a nurse for women's lives,” one guy had a sign that said “civil war?” An artist had made yellow ribbons that said “Forced motherhood is female enslavement” and said she would make more of these that are green.
We marched through an area of Spanish-speaking masses downtown. We ended up marching for about an hour and a half because there was so much energy. And after we ended, a lot of people stuck around to get organized, volunteering to be part of all the next steps.
Finally, a highlight was the presence of the Revolution Club. The speech by Noche Diaz, national spokesperson for the Revolution Club, brought alive the concrete demand to restore the right to abortion nationwide, in opposition to relying on the Democrats and voting, and went to the root of the problem not just in this country, but with this country, its violence and destruction here and around the world. He said at this time the people who run this system “don’t even agree to play nice with each other anymore,” and “this Supreme Court decision was a taste of the future that we will get if they continue on the road that they are going in.” He pointed to how the very things ripping the country apart can also give rise to a revolution to get rid of this system, and he called on people to come talk to the Revolution Club about how to get organized for revolution. He also did a good sharp thing on Bob Avakian: why there are those who hate him and viciously attack him and why those of us who want an actual revolution follow and love him, and why everyone who cares about humanity needs to actually find out what he's about by getting into his work. It was sharp, radical and inviting. At the very end, a member of the Revolution Tour got on the bullhorn and introduced herself, invited people to come talk if they wanted to find out more, and gathered a group that sat down to get into it.