Over a thousand Canberrans gathered in Garema Place on Saturday to protest the US Supreme Court’s decision to overrule Roe v Wade, what had been considered the USA’s constitutional protection of abortion rights for almost 50 years.

While the overruling doesn’t criminalise abortion across the whole country, it does allow states to make their own decisions on how to restrict abortion. Already, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Dakota have banned the procedure in the week since the decision.  An estimated 25 states are expected to introduce laws that will either restrict access to or ban the procedures.

Across Australia, people have been standing in solidarity with the women who will be impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision while also sending a message to politicians here that Australians will not allow them to play follow the leader with lawmakers in the US on this issue.

More than 1, 500 people attended the protest in Canberra City on Saturday, according to the organisers’ Facebook page; women, men, non-binary people and even dogs and a ferret turned up to hear the speeches and show their support.

Greens MLA for Kurrajong, Rebecca Vassarotti, was one of the speakers to address the crowd. She shared her dismay at the situation in the US before assuring attendees that the ACT Greens will always protect and celebrate the rights of our gender-diverse community.

Other speakers shared their experiences of having undergone the procedure themselves and how grateful they had been to be able to access healthcare. One speaker recalled the stark reality of being denied abortion in tragic stories of women who lost their lives. One woman was forced to stop cancer treatments because of an unplanned pregnancy and then lost her life and the foetus when the cancer metastasised. Another woman went septic and suffered organ failure after she was denied an abortion when her prolonged miscarriage still had a heartbeat.

“Pro-life, your name is a lie, you don’t care if women die,” could be heard from all around Civic, as the attendees waited for more speeches.

Cara Robinson wore the red robes made famous in The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, set in the America of the not-so-distant future, a dystopian place where women are kept prisoner and used as vehicles to deliver babies for infertile upper-class women.

“One of my best friends lives in Florida and she’s already had a shocking time over the last few years; not only is she dealing with Roe v Wade being overturned and what that means for her and her people, but she’s also dealing with the ‘don’t say gay’ bill coming in this week. Watching these rights get stripped away is just shocking,” Cara said.

Rachel Lizars attended to ensure the rights of all of those who can carry a pregnancy are given the choice as to whether they want to.

“The recent decision by the [US] Supreme Court shows that healthcare rights for women can be rolled back at any time and it’s important we make sure that doesn’t happen in Australia.”

Rachael was accompanied by her friend, Joce, who echoed the sentiment that the rally was important not only to stand in solidarity with those in the US, but to send an obvious message to our nation’s leaders.

“I want to send a message to the governments of Australia that this won’t stand here, and we won’t be accepting any kind of restrictions on women’s rights.”

An unnamed woman who carried a small poodle in her backpack, said that the overturning was emotional for her as it seemed to be a constant one step forward, two steps back for women.

Abbey and Jordana said it was pure rage that made them attend the rally; anger for the women who have been denied the right to make their own decisions for their bodies, disappointment that in this day and age someone can be forced to carry out a pregnancy and bring an unwanted child into the world, and solidarity with those who are fighting for change.

They took their message to the streets as they marched a loop around the city block, the crowd grew as passers-by joined them. Others just watched from the sidelines and a few people heckled and called out ‘Baby murderers’; these calls were hard to hear over the chants of the passionate protestors.

Back at Garema Place, before the crowds dispersed, another chant of ‘we will be back’ echoed through the city; another rally has been organised for the same time this Saturday 9 July.

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