At least 16 Democratic lawmakers were among the people arrested by Capitol Police during abortion rights protests on Tuesday afternoon that were held outside of the Supreme Court.
The members of Congress and protesters wore specially made green bandanas that had "Won't Back Down" written on them. They then marched from the Capitol to the Court, which has been fenced off for several weeks after the leak of the draft majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.
Democrats Arrested
After two minutes since the protesters arrived outside the Supreme Court, capitol police began ordering them to "cease and desist." Instead, the demonstrators sat on the street, forcing law enforcement personnel to arrest them one by one as they continued to chant, "The people, united, will never be divided."
In a Twitter post, the U.S. Capitol Police said that protesters were starting to block First Street, NE, noting that it was against the law to block traffic. This was the reason that officers were giving the standard three warnings before they start making arrests, as per CNN.
Later, police also revealed that they arrested a total of 34 people, including 16 members of Congress, These include, Katherine Clark, Ayanna Pressley, Barbara Lee, Jackie Speier, Sara Jacobs, Ilhan Omar, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Andy Levin, Rashida Tlaib, Jan Schakowsky, Madeline Dean, Cori Bush, Carolyn Maloney, Nydia Velazquez, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Alma Adams.
The press secretary for Pressley tweeted a video that showed the second-term congresswoman being escorted away by police, adding that she was "arrested protesting on the steps of the Supreme Court for abortion rights."
Just now, @RepPressley arrested protesting on the steps of the Supreme Court for abortion rights pic.twitter.com/Lh0US0BvbX
— mae | مي (@maeldahshoury) July 19, 2022
According to Yahoo News, Omar also tweeted a video of the arrests that were made in front of the Supreme Court. In a Twitter post, Kee said that everyone has a moral responsibility to push back against unjust laws, noting that she was standing up for reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy in solidarity with the millions who have had their rights stripped away by inhumane policies.
Today I was arrested while participating in a civil disobedience action with my fellow Members of Congress outside the Supreme Court.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 19, 2022
I will continue to do everything in my power to raise the alarm about the assault on our reproductive rights! ✊🏽pic.twitter.com/rpFYOGBDf4
Abortion Rights
On the other hand, Bush said that she introduced legislation to protect reproductive freedom, adding that her colleagues and herself put their bodies on the line. Rep. Judy Chu was arrested last month outside the Supreme Court for protesting abortion rights in the United States.
The protests come after the Supreme Court decided to overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing states to enforce their own abortion laws. Many regions already had dormant policies in place and have already started enforcing strict policies against the procedure.
Democrats were angered by the ruling which prompted House Democrats to pass a pair of bills protecting access to abortion in the country. However, those measures have little chance of clearing the evenly divided Senate due to Republican opposition.
In a statement on Tuesday, Maloney said that there is no democracy if women do not have control over their own bodies and decisions about their own health, including reproductive care. She noted that the Republican party and the right-wing extremists behind the majority decision were not pro-life, but pro-controlling the bodies of women, The Hill reported.
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