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According to the police, the demonstration on Dam Square went without any problems, until a group of twenty to thirty people split off and headed for the American consulate on Museumplein. They blocked the tram track on Vijzelstraat and several people defaced trams, including the 27-year-old woman. When officers arrested her, protesters turned against the police. Officers used batons to keep the protesters away.
The underage boy was arrested shortly afterwards. According to the police, he is suspected of having destroyed “personal property” of an officer.
Broad support for demonstration
The campaign was supported by, among others, Amnesty International, Rutgers knowledge center, Women Inc. and the organization behind the Woman’s March. Several people spoke during the demonstration. In addition to the outspoken solidarity for women in America who want to terminate their pregnancy, the message also came forward to protect the right to abortion in the Netherlands.
Hilda Passchier, like Dolle Mina, demonstrated fifty years ago that abortion should be removed from the criminal code – “that is still not regulated” -, abortion in the health insurance package – “so that it would be accessible to everyone” – and decision-making rights for the woman – “because a woman doesn’t just do such a thing.” Passchier finds it “actually very strange” that she now has to make her voice heard again. “I thought: we’ve already had this, haven’t we?”
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Experience expert Eva de Goeij, who had an unwanted pregnancy three years ago, spoke to those present about the condemnation she felt when she wanted to end her pregnancy. De Goeij, chairman of the Ava foundation that supports people around a possible abortion, warns against the “strong anti-abortion lobby” that is being conducted in the Netherlands. Like speaker Corinne Ellemeet, Member of Parliament for GroenLinks, she expressed the wish to remove abortion from the Dutch criminal code, among other things. According to Ellemeet, there is a guiding advice from politicians about abortion and “that is not possible,” she says. To prevent abortion law from being jeopardized in the Netherlands too, “we must make ourselves heard.”
This afternoon’s solidarity action was in response to the US Supreme Court’s draft decision that came out this week. If that decision becomes final, each state would be allowed to legislate separately on abortion. It is expected that the right to an abortion after six weeks will be banned in conservative states in particular. Often women do not yet know that they are pregnant. In some cases, people wanting an abortion have to drive more than a thousand miles to a clinic outside their state, which is often not possible, especially for women with less funding.
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In addition to the fact that there is still room for improvement in the Netherlands with regard to, for example, the abortion pill, Passchier wants to express her solidarity with women in America. “They have to travel for an abortion, or secretly take a pill by ordering via the internet.” She is happy with the solidarity on Dam Square but warns to be alert to developments in the Netherlands. “There are always idiots who also take this up here and want to reverse the abortion law with money and lobby.”