There have been demonstrations in several places in the United States against the removal of the federal right to abortion by the country’s highest judges.
Hundreds of demonstrators stormed and destroyed the Arizona state parliament building in Phoenix on Friday night, local media reported.
The senators, meeting in the building, briefly fled to a lower floor, but were able to return to their seats when police dispersed the demonstrators with tear gas.
In a Washington suburb, about 20 protesters raided the home of one of the nine chief justices, Clarence Thomas. He is one of five judges in favor of abolishing the national right to abortion.
In New York, according to local media, possibly 17,000 people marched through Manhattan against the Supreme Court verdict. Riots broke out there and about 25 demonstrators were arrested.
States must now decide for themselves whether they allow abortion
Demonstrations in several cities began Friday shortly after the court’s decision was announced in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington. The contents of the verdict had been known for some time through a leak.
In many places, opponents of abortion celebrated the abolition of what had been a national constitutional right for fifty years. Now it is up to the states to decide for themselves whether they allow abortion (subject to conditions) or not.
The removal of the federal rule presents a number of states with strong opposition to abortion with the problem that it is now unclear what is and is not allowed.
In Arizona, for example, there is an 1864 law that prohibits abortion, but there is also more recent legislation that places limits on the national constitution. It will be quite a puzzle for politicians and lawyers in the more than four months before the parliamentary elections.
