BY JEFFERSON SIEGEL | In 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Texas laws that criminalized abortion. The ruling, Roe v. Wade, has stood all these years as a touchstone for abortion rights that are now under threat.
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As several state legislatures have leaned farther right in recent years, their lawmakers are now chipping away at those protections. Texas, most notably, last year passed a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. And in June, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on a Mississippi state law that would ban elective abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
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On Saturday afternoon abortion-rights rallies were held in several cities around the country. In New York about 75 people gathered in Union Square to hear speakers decry the impending threat to pro-choice rights. Speakers warned that losing the right to abortion is a form of enslavement that forces women to have children against their will.
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Many in the crowd wore and waved green bandanas that have become a symbol of abortion rights in Latin American countries. The gathering was organized by RiseUp4AbortionRights.org.
For the first half of the rally, eight counterprotesters, one holding a cross, stood silently nearby but did not approach the gathering.
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After an hour the crowd marched to Washington Square Park where they gathered for more speeches before marching through the West Village.
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