STOP THE POLITICAL PROSECUTION OF ABORTION RIGHTS PROTESTERS!
Since the overturning of Roe V Wade, the nightmare that RiseUpAbortionrights warned about and fought righteously to prevent is every day becoming more real. [12 states have passed the most restrictive abortion bans possible and a fascist movement is moving to ban birth control, rights for LGBTQ people, and a fetal personhood act that will make abortion illegal everywhere.
We are seeing countless headlines of teenagers being denied abortions even in cases of rape, and those who are able to scrape together the resources to travel to another state- getting the money together, the time off work, and often the childcare necessary – frequently encounter over-burdened and stressed out staff and heightened clinic harassment and hate. Even women who are suffering miscarriages of wanted pregnancies are being denied treatment at hospitals.
Rise Up for Abortion Rights came together to prevent the Supreme Court from overturning Roe through mobilizing society in mass protest and resistance to let them know this can not stand – abortion must be legal throughout the land – and are continuing to demand that the federal government act to restore this basic right – without which women can not be free.
On July 30th a small demonstration of 13 protestors was held at the Riverside Historic Courthouse, where they wrote messages in chalk and washable kid’s paint – In the midst of this, they were surrounded by 20 police officers, detained with no explanation for an hour then rounded up by the Riverside Sheriff’s Department.
All the protesters were detained, arrested, and held for 5 hours. One of them had to go to the hospital and then 5 of them were released, while the other 8 were thrown in jail with a 10,000 dollar bail each and held for about 18 hrs for alleged felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to commit a crime. The extremely repressive nature of these charges in a supposed sanctuary state is meant to send a message to people who need to be standing up that you cannot protest your most basic rights being taken away -they are meant to intimidate people into submission.
The answer to this has to be WE WILL NOT GO BACK! WE WILL NOT SUBMIT! WE WILL NOT TAKE THIS FASCIST SH*T!
What does it mean to be living in a time where women’s wombs are now becoming sites of surveillance and when you sound the alarm to this in a so-called sanctuary state, you get arrested, thrown in jail, dragged to court, and get charged with a FELONY? These activists and ordinary people who exercised their right to demonstrate in protest against this atrocity need the backing of everyone who does not want to see a future of forced motherhood and the enslavement of women.
The Riverside 8 are set to be arraigned on Oct 6th at 8am at Riverside County Hall of Justice. Show UP! Bring your friends! Come to court en masse and do not let these outrageous charges stand! When anyone comes under attack for non-violently protesting for the lives of millions of young women and girls, they must be defended, and supported!
ACT now to advance the movement for Legal Abortion Nationwide Now!
DEMAND ALL ACTIVISTS WITH RISEUP4ABORTIONRIGHTS.ORG HAVE ALL CHARGES DISMISSED AGAINST THEM.