Summer of Rage: Women’s group sits in at White House

Washington, D.C. – Thousands of mostly young women marched in pouring rain from 14th and I Streets to the White House July 9 as part of the “Summer of Rage” called by the Women’s March. When the group reached the White House, a sea of green bandanas with “Bans Off Our Bodies” written on them were tied to the White House fence.  

In defiance of park rules at Lafayette Square, hundreds of protesters sat down in front of the White House preparing for arrest. While no arrests were made, the charge against the Biden administration was very clear: Not enough is being done to protect abortion rights.  

The group is calling for President Joe Biden to declare a national emergency which would provide additional funds for abortion and health care. This includes access to abortion pills and the leasing of federal land to abortion providers.

Many protesters proclaimed that the White House and mainstream Democratic Party politicians are not doing enough and that “we cannot wait until the elections.”

On July 8, protesters organized by the Louisiana Abortion Rights Action Committee took over the streets in front of the Civil District Court in New Orleans where a hearing about Louisana’s anti-abortion “trigger laws” was being heard.

Sally Jane Black from LARAC proclaimed at the protest: “We’re not going to let the Supreme Court’s Dobb’s decision stand! The original Roe v. Wade was won in the streets with a mass movement. We shut it down this morning to show that we mean business and that they cannot continue like this.”  

Black emphasized that their battle was connected to the fight against racism and for workers’ rights.

LARAC is one of several organizations, including the Workers Voice Socialist Movement and Socialist Unity Party, calling for a national week of civil disobedience from Sept. 18-24. The Louisiana protest represents the mounting resistance taking place across the country.  

On June 24, thousands of protesters in Phoenix, Arizona, were met with riot police firing tear gas outside the State Capitol. In defiance, protesters returned on July 8, despite the erection of razor wire fences.   

The battle has just begun.