Saturday saw thousands of protesters take to the streets for the annual Women’s March, where the clear focus was abortion rights and reproductive justice. The issue is at the forefront of the march after the Supreme Court declined to block Texas law SB8, a draconian and extreme ban on abortions after 6 weeks with no exceptions for rape or incest. SB8 not only effectively outlaws abortion, but allows any private citizen to sue anyone aiding a person seeking an abortion (from a doctor to a friend to a Lyft driver) for a bounty of $10,000.
And Texas’s vicious new law is now setting an example, with Florida attempting to pass similar legislation of their own. It’s a horrific outcome that reproductive rights activists have been warning us of ever since Donald Trump took office in 2016, where he appointed three anti-choice justices for a conservative majority in the highest court in the land.
The marches come just two days before the beginning of the Supreme Court’s new term, where abortion rights continue to be in jeopardy, despite the majority of the country supporting safe and legal abortion access. Over 625 rallies in all 50 states were held, with massive crowd turnouts protesting the war on women.
Savannah, GA
Portland, ME
Pagosa Springs, CO
Palatine, ILFrom the east to the west, from the north to the south, we rallied in 650 locations in all 50 states.
But this is only the beginning. Our fight for abortion justice is far from over. #RallyForAbortionJustice pic.twitter.com/IKu04PnVyB
— Women's March (@womensmarch) October 3, 2021
The Washington, D.C. march saw protesters walking from the White House to the steps of the Supreme Court, with shouts of “My body, my choice” and chants of “Shame! shame!” in front of the Supreme Court building.
The Washington DC Women’s March is well underway on Freedom Plaza. They’ll be marching down Pennsylvania Ave towards the Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/zogbdMbiWp
— Gary Grumbach (@GaryGrumbach) October 2, 2021
While over 120,000 people marched in protest across the country, the mainstream media was largely absent, with coverage of the massive events largely ignored in favor of covering … literally anything else. Coverage of the march was absent even on left-leaning MSM sites like HuffPost, which ran four different articles on last night’s SNL in their “What’s Happening” section but nothing on the women’s march:
(image: screencap/HuffPost)
It’s indicative of how little women’s rights matter to mainstream media, when 20 Proud Boys at a Denny’s or Donald Trump sneezing makes bigger headlines than hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets. And the cognitive dissonance didn’t go unnoticed by attendees.
Anyone else notice the MSM’s lack of coverage of the 2021 Women’s March? Anyone?
— Ellen Barkin (@EllenBarkin) October 3, 2021
The fact that the women's march on Saturday to protect abortion rights which drew a massive outpouring of supporters in cities around country had less media coverage than Sept. 18 MAGA rally in Washington which drew just a handful of attendees tells you how broken media is.
— Charles Campisi (@1813Doncarlo) October 3, 2021
The media did not cover the Women’s March in OKC! That’s BS! pic.twitter.com/Pr3bmZAC8n
— RHONDA, HELP ME! (@bringtheclowns) October 3, 2021
The way that the Women’s March was covered by the media is what we can expect from the MSM. They are owned by extremely conservative people who are going to aggressively promote their agenda which isn’t good for any of us.
— zeusanna (@zeusanna) October 3, 2021
100's march on Washington to show support for 1/6
Media: OMG!!! WE HAVE TO BE EVERYWHERE!!!!
Hundreds of Thousands march nationally to support women's rights
Media: ArE YoU MarChiNg ToDaY???— Rob Continues 🏳️🌈 (@RobContinues) October 3, 2021
650 rallies around the country.
Don’t let them tell you women didn’t show up.
Here’s just a few shots from Texas: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Austin. #RallyforAbortionJustice pic.twitter.com/26jtBtnGMR
— Rebecca Katz (@RebeccaKKatz) October 3, 2021
Remember how the media outnumbered the protesters in the J6 defense rally last month?
But if we march for women's rights….crickets. https://t.co/gYLiTSQqC5
— Nicole "Fully Vaccinated" Belle (@NicoleBelle) October 2, 2021
What else could this be but sexism that starts at the very top, with the conservative billionaires who own mainstream news outlets? Then there’s the trickle-down effect corporate sexism, which spreads like wildfire in newsrooms both national and local. In the wake of Trump leaving office, the news cycle has somewhat stabilized, yet the media can’t resist Trump bait like Stephanie Grisham’s new tell-all. In the meantime, we’re stuck with front page articles about Brett Kavanaugh getting Covid, and nothing about the women’s rights he and his cronies plan to decimate.
What a disservice to these marches, and to reproductive justice.
(image: KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)
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