The protests were organized in support of Gisèle Pélicot, who has become a symbol of feminist defiance in the country when she chose to make the rape trial of her husband and 50 other men public.
Thousands of people took to the streets in 30 French cities and Brussels on Saturday to protest rape and sexist violence and to support Gisèle Pélicot, a woman in her early 70s whose husband of 50 years is on trial for drugging her periodically and inviting dozens of men into their home to rape her while she was unconscious.
Pélicot has become a symbol of the fight against sexual violence in France when she decided to make the trial of her husband and 50 other men public to ensure that “no woman suffers this.”
“I look forward to a new future in North Dakota and hope our lawmakers will finally give up on their crusade to force pregnancy on people against their will,” said one advocate.
Tammi Kromenaker, director of Red River Women’s Clinic. Photo: Senator Tina Smith/X
Two days after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trumpclaimed that “every Democrat, every Republican, liberal, conservative” wanted the federal right to abortion care to be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, a North Dakota judge became the latest on Thursday to strike down a state-level abortion ban, saying it violated residents’ constitutional rights.
“The North Dakota Constitution guarantees each individual, including women, the fundamental right to make medical judgments affecting his or her bodily integrity, health, and autonomy, in consultation with a chosen healthcare provider free from government interference,” wrote Judge Bruce Romanick, a District Court judge. “This section necessarily and more specifically protects a woman’s right to procreative autonomy—including to seek and obtain a previability abortion.”
Abortion rights supporters rallied in Lake Eola Park, Florida, on April 13, 2024. (Photo: ACLU of Florida/X)
Floridians and reproductive rights advocates responded with alarm on Friday to Tampa Bay Times reporting that Florida law enforcement officers have been sent to the homes of multiple voters who signed a petition to get an abortion rights measure on the November ballot.
While Isaac Menasche told the newspaper that he isn’t sure which agency the plainclothes officer who came to his home is with, fellow Lee County resident Becky Castellanos said Florida Department of Law Enforcement Officer Gary Negrinelli showed his badge and gave his card.
It has been two years since the US Supreme Court blew up federal protection for abortion, handing states the power to enact abortion bans and realising the decades-long fever-dream of anti-rights actors.
Though a minority in the US, these extremists are loud and determined and won’t stop at our borders. Their plans for the future are outlined in Project 2025, which is already being implemented in the US and abroad through anti-abortion and anti-LGBTIQ+ initiatives and would be fully executed if radical conservative forces reclaim the White House.
“This effort has generated a wave of fiercely engaged Arkansas women,” said one organizer. “We are outraged. We will not back down. And we will remember this in November.”
Abortion rights defenders in Arkansas said Thursday it was “a dark day” after the state’s Supreme Court ruled a ballot measure that would enshrine stronger reproductive rights protections for people in the state was ineligible for November election ballots.
The court ruled 4-3 in favor of arguments presented by Republican officials including Secretary of State John Thurston and Attorney General Tim Griffin, who said organizers with Arkansans for Limited Government (AFLG)—which submitted more than 101,000 signatures to secure the amendment for the ballot—had failed to correctly submit paperwork verifying that paid canvassers had been properly trained.
“Now is the time to refuse to cover politics with soundbites that place profit over people’s understanding of the stakes. Media must be a watchdog for the people right now.”
Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at The People’s Convention at Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan June 2024. Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/CC
Pushing back against calls for the media to “refrain from covering mounting authoritarianism” in the United States since the Republican nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, survived an assassination attempt, a coalition on Thursday urged news outlets “to wholeheartedly reject such a dereliction of journalistic duty, and to rigorously report threats to our democracy.”
“Media coverage shapes both public discourse and people’s understanding of events of the day,” states the coalition’s open letter. “This is particularly critical during contentious and extreme times such as these. Media coverage can invite public engagement and robust participation in the democratic process. It can also be manipulated to promote falsehoods for political gain, to silence dissent, and stoke racism.”
“By passing this amendment, we can end Missouri’s total abortion ban and ensure that Missourians regain access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare,” said one organizer.
Organizers with Missourians for Constitutional Freedom rally on May 3, 2024 in Jefferson City, Missouri. (Photo: @Missourians4CF/Twitter)
Voters in at least eight U.S. states will now be able to vote on constitutional amendment ballot measures regarding abortion rights in the November elections, and in Missouri on Tuesday, organizers celebrated as they learned their initiative to place a history-making referendum on ballots had succeeded.
Missouri voters will have the opportunity to vote “yes” on the Right to Reproductive Freedom initiative, which, if passed, would make Missouri the first state to reverse its strict abortion ban through a vote by citizens.
The ballot initiative was officially certified by the Missouri secretary of state on Tuesday, three months after organizers with Missourians for Constitutional Freedom delivered more than 380,000 signatures to the state Capitol.
“This effort is a lifeline for Missourians who are now living under a senseless and cruel abortion ban passed by politicians who are deeply out of touch with voters in the state,” said Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project, which helped to fund and assist Missourians for Constitutional Freedom’s signature-gathering campaign. “Missourians want and need to make their own healthcare decisions without government interference. Today, Missourians for Constitutional Freedom moved voters one step closer to securing reproductive rights, and we are proud to stand with them.”
Missouri’s abortion ban is one of the most extreme in the nation, with the procedure prohibited in almost all circumstances “except in cases of medical emergency.” The 2019 policy went into effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
In addition to reversing the ban, the Right to Reproductive Freedom initiative would establish that Missouri residents have the right to make their own decisions about reproductive healthcare, including abortion, contraception, and miscarriage care.
Rachel Sweet, campaign manager for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, said the campaign’s gathering of nearly 400,000 signatures from all 114 counties in Missouri is a testament to voters’ commitment to reversing the abortion ban.
“As we turn our attention to the November ballot, it’s clear Missourians overwhelmingly support reproductive freedom and will have the chance to make their voices heard at the ballot box. We are ready to fight so all Missourians can take back the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions,” said Sweet.
As numerous state bans have gone into effect in 2022, reproductive health clinics in bordering states that allow abortion care have been flooded with patients from other states, delaying care for Missourians, who even before the overturning of Roe frequently crossed state lines to get care. A hospital in Joplin, Missouri denied a patient an emergency abortion last year, in violation of a federal statute, because doctors were concerned that providing care would break the state law.
“Missourians have been suffering under a total abortion ban with no exceptions, leaving women and families in unimaginable circumstances,” said Margot Riphagen, vice president of external affairs for Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action. “This cruel and unjust ban has put countless lives at risk and denied people the fundamental right to make their own healthcare decisions. By passing this amendment, we can end Missouri’s total abortion ban and ensure that Missourians regain access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare.” “It’s time to put control back in the hands of individuals,” added Riphagen, “and protect the health and dignity of our communities.”
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom said it would hold canvassing kickoff events on August 17 and 18 to urge people to vote “yes” on the Right to Reproductive Freedom ballot question.
On Monday, organizers in Arizona also celebrated as the state formally certified their proposed ballot measure to establish the right to abortion care in the state constitution.
Advocates in Montana and Nebraska have submitted signatures for similar initiatives and are awaiting approval.
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As Iowa’s six-week abortion ban took effect on Monday after a June ruling by the state Supreme Court, reproductive rights advocates pointed to the law as the latest proof of the importance of opposing anti-choice Republicans in the November elections.
“Today, people in Iowa woke up to the unfortunate reality that their reproductive rights have been ripped away,” said NextGen America. “They’re already fleeing the state for care. In November, abortion is on the ballot. Vote on it.”
Voting rights activists participate in a voting rights rally in Washington DC on 8-27-2021. Photo: Edward Kimmel/flickr/CC
The group behind a popular get-out-the-vote technology platform said Friday that it’s registered more than 100,000 new U.S. voters since President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race, a surge that came amid mounting Republican efforts to make it harder to register and vote.
Vote.org said that 84% of voters registered in the new wave are under age 35. Nearly 1 in 5 new registrees is 18 years old. Andrea Hailey, the group’s CEO, said that “since 2020, we have led the largest voter registration drive in U.S. history,” with more than 7.8 million people registered.
“This is an immense victory for the health, safety, and dignity of people in Kansas and the entire Midwestern region, where millions have been cut off from abortion access,” said one advocate.
Women’s March in Topeka, KS, 2017. Photo: mmrogne/flickr/CC
Reproductive rights defenders on Friday cheered a pair of Kansas Supreme Court decisions reaffirming the right to abortion and striking down various restrictions—rulings expected to impact people beyond the Midwestern state, given how many patients must now travel for care.
“The state devoted much of its brief to inviting us to reverse our earlier ruling in this case that the Kansas Constitution protects a right to abortion. We decline the invitation,” Justice Eric Rosen wrote in the decision against Senate Bill 95, which outlawed a common abortion procedure for second-trimester pregnancies called dilation and evacuation (D&E).
