New Yorkers March for Abortion Justice

Photo credit: Jo Freeman

Women’s Marches are becoming an annual event.  The first one in 2017 was to express outrage at pussy grabber Trump’s election. Subsequent ones have varied in substance and style.  They have shifted from January to October – which is is a better month for outdoor protest.  This year, several hundred marches were held locally on October 2, with a few big ones in major cities, to keep travel at a minimum.

The 2021 theme was abortion rights, which is being slowly eroded in several states.

The New York City marches took place in stages, with two marches and three rallies.  
Several hundred people gathered at Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza North late on Saturday morning, where they listened to speakers and bands.

Volunteers painted signs for the march next to the William Jay Gaynor memorial.

Safety marshals met to plan strategy.

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Brooklyn native, was honored with signs and banners.

Sometime after noon a couple of thousand people left the Plaza to march on the Brooklyn bridge.

They had a permit to march on the roadway.

Observers watched from the promenade.

Occasionally they stopped for photo-ops.

Police were few.  I only saw two.

On arriving at Foley Square in Manhattan, the marchers joined thousands more around a fountain.

This focus of this year’s march was a recent Texas law banning abortion after roughly six weeks, using private lawsuits as the enforcement mechanism.

Speakers and signs brought in many other issues.
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

Drag Queen Brita Filter told the crowd that “abortion rights are LGBTQ rights”

Two Members of Congress – Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Malony –  addressed the rally.

After listening to a dozen speakers, the second march left Foley Square and headed up Sixth Ave. toward Washington Square Park.

Unlike the march from Brooklyn, they were escorted by dozens of cops, both on bikes and on foot.

When they got to Washington Square Park, the cops rode off into the night. My camera and I were both out of juice by then, so we went home.

Jo Freeman is a feminist scholar and author.
Copyright © 2021 Jo Freeman