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Pro-choice protest held outside home of conservative US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh
About 60 people chanted "my body, my voice" as they marched through the affluent neighbourhood in capital Washington.
Police stand guard as abortion rights activists protest near the house of US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on 13 September 2021, following the court’s decision to uphold a stringent abortion law in Texas. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP)
Scores of pro-choice protesters rallied outside the home of US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh following the top legal body’s decision not to block a hugely controversial law banning abortion in Texas.
About 60 people chanted “my body, my voice” as they marched through the affluent neighbourhood in capital Washington, closely watched by police.
“I believe that currently the Supreme Court is infringing on our rights and Brett Kavanaugh is a big part of that,” said 18-year-old demonstrator Sophia Geiger.
Although the Supreme Court enshrined a woman’s right to an abortion in the landmark 1973 case known as Roe v. Wade, Republican-led conservative states are attempting to roll back access through legislation.
The courts have regularly blocked such attempts, but a Supreme Court shifted to the right by Donald Trump – who appointed Kavanaugh – refused to strike down the latest Texas law banning terminations after six weeks.
“We’ve had multiple women’s marches… and clearly, they have not gotten the message,” Geiger said. “So now we want to inconvenience him.”
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Nadine Bloch, a member of the ShutdownDC group and the event organiser, said they were demonstrating outside Kavanaugh’s home “to make our voices heard”.
“We’re starting with Brett – we haven’t said we’re not going to go to any others,” she said.
A 75-year-old Texas woman, who gave her name as Nancy, said she had been fighting for decades, remaining vigilant even after Roe v. Wade.
“I have been marching starting in the sixties, I have been supporting choice, not abortion, choice, my entire life,” she said.
Echoing the concerns of civil rights groups, she said restricting abortions would disproportionately affect those already marginalised by society.
“The only ones who will be hurt are the poor people, who also are the minorities in many, many cases,” she said.
The Texas law has been strongly criticised.
President Joe Biden said it “blatantly violates” constitutional rights established under Roe v. Wade, while campaigners have called it “cruel, unconscionable, and unlawful”.
