Trump-endorsed rich guy J.D. Vance wins massively expensive Ohio Senate primary

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The Republican primary for Ohio’s open Senate seat—which weighed in at nearly $75 million—finally concluded on Tuesday with a win for Trump’s endorsed candidate, venture capitalist J.D. Vance. Vance, the Hillbilly Elegy author and one-time vociferous Trump critic, reinvented himself as a MAGA diehard and defeated former state Treasurer Josh Mandel 31-25 for the nod to succeed retiring Sen. Rob Portman. Vance will take on Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who won his own primary 71-17 against former Treasury official Morgan Harper, in a longtime swing state that has lurched hard to the right in recent years.

Just a few months ago, Vance’s allies at Protect Ohio Values, a super PAC funded by megadonor Peter Thiel, warned that the candidate’s poll numbers were in “precipitous decline.” The group highlighted the previous fall’s assault by the Club for Growth, which supported Mandel and had run a barrage of ads using 2016 footage of Vance saying, “I’m a Never Trump guy,” an offensive that persuaded many voters that Vance could not be trusted.

Thiel’s group responded with new advertisements that rebranded Vance as a Trump loyalist, a maneuver that seems to have at least kept him in contention. Vance was also able to keep going because none of his four major rivals were able to establish a meaningful lead—either in the polls or in the contest to win Trump’s endorsement. (Only state Sen. Matt Dolan, who criticized Trump as recently as last year, didn’t seek it.) The financier also had a powerful ally in Fox News host Tucker Carlson, whom Rolling Stone reported played a key role in winning Trump over to Vance’s side.

Carlson reportedly not only made the case that Vance’s anti-Trump days were long behind him, he also argued that Mandel’s main benefactor, Club president David McIntosh, was untrustworthy because of what the story calls an “an embarrassing and ‘chronic’ personal sexual habit.” The magazine refused to provide any details about this salacious claim, but it relayed that Trump “spent a notable amount of time gossiping and laughing about the prominent Republican’s penis.” (Can’t believe you just had to read that sentence? We can’t believe we had to write it, either.)

No matter what ultimately convinced Trump, though, he went on to give his stamp of approval to Vance less than three weeks ahead of the primary. Trump excused Vance’s past disloyalty at a recent rally, saying that while his new favorite had indeed “said some bad shit about me,” each of his rivals “did also.”

The Club hoped that voters wouldn’t be so forgiving, and it even ran a commercial questioning Trump’s judgment—a shocking gambit given the GOP’s obeisance to its supreme master. Even Trump himself managed to give Vance a humiliating round of headlines just two days before Election Day when he told an audience, “We’ve endorsed—JP, right? JD Mandel, and he’s doing great.” But while Trump couldn’t remember Vance’s name, enough Republican primary voters could.

We’ll be recapping all of Tuesday’s results in Ohio and Indiana the next Morning Digest, though if you don’t want to wait that long, join us on Wednesday at Daily Kos Elections and follow along as we provide updates in our Live Digest.

Mexico to reroute trade railway connection from Texas to New Mexico due to Abbott's $4 billion stunt

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Mexico has been planning a trade railway that spans thousands of miles from Mazatlán to Winnipeg, with a connection in Texas. But while the T-MEC Corridor railway connecting the two nations is still happening, the stop in Texas is not.

Mexican officials have now decided to instead reroute the line through New Mexico, The Dallas Morning News reports. It’s a major loss for Texas, because border states thrive and depend on international trade. But the state has only one person to blame for this change: Greg Abbott.

RELATED STORY: Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border stunt balloons by another $500 million

Mexican Economy Minister Tatiana Clouthier said Abbott’s political stunt forcing commercial vehicles to undergo redundant inspections caused officials to rethink the Texas connection, all but calling the right-wing governor too volatile to deal with. Abbott shut down his $4 billion stunt just ten days after announcing it, following intense bipartisan opposition ranging from fellow state Republicans to the White House.

“We’re now not going to use Texas,” Clouthier said in the report. “We can’t leave all the eggs in one basket and be hostages to someone who wants to use trade as a political tool.”

But despite Texas’ own data showing that the governor’s redundant inspections turned up precisely zero migrants or drugs, he’s threatened to reinstate the policy. Not because of some new perceived threat—but because he didn’t like critical remarks by Mexico’s president. That threat probably didn’t help Abbott’s case when it came to the rail line—but why should Mexican officials further deal with a hostile actor when there are far friendlier neighbors?

“Jerry Pacheco, president of the Santa Teresa-based Border Industrial Association, called Clouthier’s announcement ‘a very positive step for New Mexico,’ but cautioned that such a project will take years to complete and ‘anything can happen in that time,’” The Dallas Morning News said. Pacheco told the outlet that they hope this fosters a continued relationship even if there’s a snag with the line.

“If this particular project doesn’t work out, there’ll be other projects that the Mexican government will have and they’ll speak favorably of New Mexico because they know we want to work with them in a constructive way,” Pacheco continued. He noted that Abbott’s stunt forcing massive commercial delays led to higher traffic numbers for his state.

Economists in Texas have said Texas’ now-rescinded policy “will cost the equivalent of 77,000 job years for the country and 36,300 for Texas’ economy,” The Dallas Morning News recently reported. Nationally, Abbott caused us roughly $9 billion in lost gross domestic product. But he’s also going to have to grapple with the interpersonal damage he created with his neighbor to the south (that is, if he even cares). The Dallas Morning News in its newer report said that Mexican Foreign Minster Marcelo Ebrard called Abbott’s policy extortion.

“I close the border and you have to sign whatever I say,” he said is what Abbott was forcing on them. “That’s not a deal; a deal is when you and I are in agreement on something.”

RELATED STORIES:  Angry over Mexico’s remarks, Abbott threatens to reinstate stunt that cost state $4 billion

Abbott’s increased truck inspections in response to Biden admin leading to huge delays, rotting food

Texas remains secretive about actual results of expensive border theatrics because they didn’t work

Gay-Straight Alliance adviser on leave for organizing after-school drag show for high schoolers

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As is the case before every major election, conservatives at all levels of government have a handful of buzzwords they can use to get their voter base riled up. As Daily Kos continues to cover, trans youth using the bathroom and playing sports is one of the biggest ones, as are calls to ban or even burn books that belong to public schools and libraries. What else? Conservatives absolutely lose their minds over drag queens, too, especially when it comes to totally normal, inclusive activities like story hours and library events

Largely thanks to the anti-LGBTQ+, conspiracy theory-laden Libs of TikTok Twitter account (you can read more in-depth about Libs here), the Hempfield School District in Pennsylvania has issued an apology for an after-school drag event organized by an openly queer teacher for the high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), according to LGBTQ+ outlet them. Far-right and conservative outlets have been covering this event with fervor. The district issued a statement saying they’re going to investigate the event. The district noted an “unnamed” person has been placed on administrative leave per the investigation, and that disciplinary action may be on the table for those involved.

RELATED: Republican who wants to make state book the Bible calls for burning banned books

The district has not released the teacher’s name, but them reports that the GSA adviser is Kelly Tyson, who works as a French teacher at the school. Local outlet FOX 43 identifies English teacher Carla VicidominiIt as the other co-adviser for the GSA. It appears Tyson’s social media has been deactivated, but Libs of TikTok posted an alleged screenshot from her Facebook account. 

In the post, Tyson describes her “sheer joy” at organizing such events and shares that it makes her emotional to provide such a space. “I would have loved nothing more than to have. space like they have, an opportunity to attend their own drag show … and to have these beautiful role models to support them,” the post reads in part. Tyson added that it’s the third year she’s organized such an event.

Of course, the Libs account presumably posted this content to be damning, but Tyson sharing about her closeted high school self and the safe space she’s trying to provide for students today is actually quite touching. Unfortunately, according to them, the production company reportedly involved in the event says they’re now receiving death threats. 

Why? It seems Harrisburg 100, a conservative local outlet that describes the cast as “erotic dancers,” incorrectly reported that the drag queens were contracted via DePiro’s Divas, a local drag show production company, but a spokesperson for the group told them the performers actually participated in the event individually. Either way, the death threats are still horrifying and unacceptable. 

Interestingly, the school district doesn’t seem to be taking the side of the GSA or the teacher involved in organizing the event. A statement from the district says they are “appalled” and don’t “condone” this type of activity in schools. “Neither the dress of the invited guests nor the performance was appropriate in our school setting,” the statement reads in part, adding that there will be a “thorough investigation.” Again, this statement is confusing when compared to the Facebook post allegedly by Tyson, in which it seems this is not the first time such an event has taken place. 

Does the amount of conservative backlash have an impact here? It’s definitely possible. Republican state Sen. Ryan Aument, for example, took to Facebook about the event, writing that he was in touch with Superintendent Mike Bromirsi twice on the phone about the show.

According to FOX 53, Aument is now using the incident as leverage to introduce a bill that would require public schools to identify “sexually explicit” content in school curriculums and give parents notice about such content. 

“Very specific descriptions and visual depictions of sexual acts,” Aument told the outlet. “That really is the heart of what we’re talking about.” He was not then able to offer a specific definition of “sexually explicit,” but that he felt the drag show would have counted.

The book banning; the lack of access to safe, age-appropriate health care; the bathroom bills; the grooming rhetoric … It’s all related. Everything about being LGBTQ+ is reduced to sexuality, and at that, inappropriate and predatory sexuality. We’re told it’s not about sexuality or gender identity, that it’s about appropriateness, but when people believe being LGBTQ+ is inherently wrong, there’s no way for us to be right unless we stop existing. 

Anyway, remember when students in Kentucky dressed in lingerie for a pep rally and gave lap dances to adult staff? Yeah, that happened! And some parents, somehow, didn’t think it was a big deal. Funny how that happens … 

Contribute now to support abortion funds providing financial assistance to people seeking abortion care
 

If you haven't already, turn that anger over Roe (and all the other GOP crap) into activism

If you haven't already, turn that anger over Roe (and all the other GOP crap) into activism 1

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I am reprising the second half of my March 11 post Emotionally exhausted by the pandemic & our political predicament? Activism can be an antidote:

Under the circumstances, despair can be tempting. Understandably. So what I’m going to suggest as an antidote to the despair and depression and compassion fatigue isn’t meant to apply to everyone. I’m not about to tell anyone I understand their personal situation better than they do. Nor am I offering some quackery claiming activism cures all that ails you. But after nearly 60 years working side by side with activists in the streets, in elections, in prison, and in the media, I firmly believe activism can undermine personal and political malaise. Okay, call it half an antidote. But that’s a start, right?

Let me be clear: I’ve believed since I first became politically involved six decades ago that grassroots education and action “in the streets” are at the core of all reform initiatives and that elections are essential to getting those reforms confirmed. Both are needed. Whether altering police powers, confronting fascists, fighting environmental injustices, or putting rational, diverse people on school boards, it matters. The states are places needing far more activists, in particular state legislatures. So here’s my recommendation to help cope with the never-ending emotional and political baggage of the past two years: 

Help build a stronger and more progressive Democratic Party bench by “adopting” and volunteering in the campaign of a state legislative candidate in your or a nearby district.  

One thing about the electoral battles for the House of Representatives, the Senate, the presidency, and governorships is they never lack for attention or volunteers or paid campaign staff.

However, state legislatures are a crucial electoral battlefield that gets all too little attention from the media, from the national party, from donors, and from most grassroots activists who focus their attention on those candidates further up the ballot. State legislatures. You know, the bodies that, with a few exceptions, redraw the boundaries of political districts, often with outrageous gerrymanders, and pass laws about drugs, abortion, health care, guns, transportation, energy, law enforcement, environment, education, and a multitude of other matters that affect citizens on a daily basis.

Despite the impact they have, for most people the challengers and incumbents in state legislatures are just downballot names that they may be encountering for the first time and know nothing about. In most states, most activists don’t pay much mind to these actual and would-be legislators. This hurts.

Here’s why: Of the 99 state legislative bodies (Nebraska has a single house), 62 are now in the hands of Republicans, just 36 in the hands of Democrats, with Alaska having a multipartisan power-sharing arrangement. Ballotpedia gives us this detail: “As of March 7, 2022, Republicans controlled 54.40% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 44.29%.” Ouch.

“Neglecting state legislative races pays dividends in bad policy. Right-wingers work diligently at the federal level to turn bad state policies into bad national policies. Some of this could be nipped in the bud. But a host of obstacles stands in the way …”

Happily, even prying loose a couple of hours a week to work the phones for a legislative candidate, canvass a neighborhood, or do whatever else is helpful to a campaign can make a huge difference in the outcome, just as comparatively small amounts of money can. What seems like a drop in the bucket for a congressional candidate can turn the election in a state legislature.

I’ve told this story before, but I’m of an age now when people should expect me to repeat myself.

A few weeks before the 2016 election, I knocked on every door in the small California apartment complex where I then lived, surveying people in 20 of the 24 units. (The others refused to participate.) I asked each person if they were registered to vote, and if so, which party. Then I asked if they knew who their state representative and state senator were.

Not one person did.

I can’t say this electoral ignorance is the case everywhere. It might not even be the case a block away where, instead of renters, most residents own their houses. However, based on my canvassing and supervising canvassing for decades over much broader areas, I suspect that the percentage of voters who can name their legislators is exceedingly low.

And that’s a big problem. It’s partly a product of the death of local newspapers and the shrinking space in surviving newspapers devoted to covering legislative matters, as well as new forms of media failing to pick up where the newspapers dropped the ball. It’s also partly due to Democratic Party failure to promote and fund year-round organizing at the precinct level. Yes, I have said this a few hundred times before: If every precinct were canvassed at least once a year (twice would be better), a lot of educating would go on. A lot more people would know who their state reps and senators are, and whether they’re worth keeping or should be replaced. They would be less willing to skip that line on the ballot. But with some exceptions, we have given up this kind of local organizing. We should restore it.  

If you don’t know your state lawmakers and the candidates challenging them, find out. If you’re not happy with your representative and senator, “adopt” one of those challengers to support with your time, organizational skills, and, if you can afford it, your money. If you’re happy with those currently in office, perhaps you can adopt a candidate in a nearby district.

–—

This piece by Ben Wikler is worth reading: Why State Parties Are the First Line of Defense for Democracy.

Michelle Bachmann says she is ‘struggling with COVID’ just months after saying don't get vaccinated

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Remember Michele Bachmann? She is the former Republican member of Congress from Minnesota who asked God about whether or not she should run for Senate, and God said, “No.” Bachmann’s belief that we were in the “End Times” dates back about nine years at this point, so her general prognosticating has never been particularly good. It has been a few years since anybody was forced to care about what Michele Bachmann had to say about anything. But a couple of months ago, Bachmann started doing the rounds, figuring her Bible-y brand of bullshit is back in fashion.

In November, Bachmann proclaimed to Americans that “children have almost a zero-rate of dying from COVID,” and that “just when COVID is really being extinguished” we should not have children vaccinated against the virus that has killed just under 1 million Americans and more than 6 million people worldwide. She followed up that appearance by heading over to Fox News to praise Sarah Palin’s irresponsible appearance at a restaurant—after Palin tested positive for COVID-19.

I’ll give you one guess what happened next.

On Monday, Right Wing Watch posted videos of Bachmann’s November appearance calling for parents to deny their children the COVID-19 vaccination, along with another video from Sunday night’s “prayer call” where she failed to have her video on but was asked to report on “the plandemic” and “the great reset.” If you don’t know what any of those phrases mean, God bless you.

The general idea is that the COVID-19 pandemic is an orchestrated event being managed by deep state officials and other nefarious conspirators to bring about a collapse of the existing world order in order to replace it with a New World Order. I know it doesn’t sound very well-reasoned, but that’s it in a nutshell. It’s QAnon-cum-Christian eschatological nonsense. (There’s another nutshell for you.)

Listen to a breakdown of the May primaries on Daily Kos Elections’ The Downballot podcast with David Nir and David Beard

Well, Bachmann did not appear on camera because she “just [was] not suitable for camera.” Why? She’s got the COVID-19—you know, the extinguished plandemic virus that isn’t real, or is sort of real but not really as real as deep state officials would like you to believe.

Michele Bachmann was on a prayer call last night and explained why she was unable to appear on camera: “I’ve been struggling with COVID pretty severely lately and I’m just not suitable for camera.” https://t.co/p0ROX0zyaI pic.twitter.com/oDxOdJxwE5

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) May 2, 2022

Live coverage: May 3, 2022 Indiana and Ohio primaries

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After a two-month break, the 2022 primary season has resumed! Polls closed in Ohio at 7:30 PM ET and at 6 PM ET in the portion of Indiana located in the Eastern Time Zone, while the rest of the state followed an hour later.

You can find our guide to the key contests here. We’re liveblogging the results here and also covering the returns closely on Twitter.

Results: IN | OH


Tuesday, May 3, 2022 · 11:36:42 PM +00:00

·
Steve Singiser

IN-09: The polls just closed in Ohio, but they’ve been closed for over 90 minutes in most parts of Indiana, and so we are already at our vote threshold (5000 votes in a CD, and obviously more statewide) in southern Indiana’s IN-09, where Trey Hollingsworth is tapping out after three terms. Former state legislator Erin Houchin has a comfortable lead over former Congressman (and, it must be said, perennial candidate) Mike Sodrel (40-24). Army veteran Stu Barnes-Israel is just behind Sodrel at 22 percent of the vote.

'This is going to change lives': San Diego launches program helping detained migrants with legal aid

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The provision of free legal help to detained immigrants in San Diego has kicked off, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The county’s board of supervisors approved the $5 million pilot program last year. Advocates hope it can provide urgent relief to immigrants detained in harmful conditions in the area.

“Everyone in this nation—everyone — has the right to a fair day in court,” Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said in the report. “This is going to change lives.” One main reason is because unlike in criminal court, people facing immigration court aren’t guaranteed legal help if they can’t afford it.

While a number of U.S. cities have created legal funds to assist immigrants, “San Diego would be the first southern border county in the United States to provide legal representation for those in federal immigration custody who are facing removal proceedings,” the Associated Press reported last year. Under the Immigrant Rights Legal Defense Program, the San Diego County Public Defender Office is working with the American Bar Association Immigration Justice Project, Jewish Family Service, and the Southern California Immigration Project to provide legal services.

The pilot program stands to have its greatest impact at the CoreCivic-operated Otay Mesa Detention Facility, where advocates say immigrants have faced prolonged detentions in harmful conditions for as long as a year. The private prison is where the first immigrant to die of COVID-19 was held. Since then, it’s failed numerous unannounced inspections. Meanwhile, other detained people have faced extraordinarily high bonds, up to $50,000, that make their release impossible.

“If one of the program’s clients is released from detention, that person will remain a client for the duration of the case unless they move away from San Diego,” The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. “The program does not disqualify potential clients based on criminal history.” Roughly a dozen people are being represented at the moment, the report said.

That immigrants will be able to continue to access legal help should they stay in the area will be hugely impactful. When immigrants have a legal representative in their corner, they’re more likely to be released from detention and be able to stay in the U.S. American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties Executive Director Norma Chávez-Peterson told The San Diego Union-Tribune that the Immigrant Rights Legal Defense Program “makes our nation’s immigration system just a little bit more just and more humane,” though “we still have a long way to go.”

The Biden administration last fall announced policy to provide legal help to vulnerable asylum-seeking children in a number of U.S. cities. Unaccompanied children have had to appear in immigration court alone, a horrific feature of our immigration system that has been going on for years but gained greater attention during the previous administration’s family separation crisis. Legal service providers have worked to represent some asylum-seeking kids in U.S. custody, but it’s nowhere close to the universal representation that’s needed.

“We applaud the Biden admin for its new initiative, Counsel for Children,” tweeted Kids In Need of Defense following the president’s policy announcement. “It is the right step in providing fairness and assistance to unaccompanied children, so they aren’t forced to navigate our complex immigration system alone.”

‘Shout Your Abortion’ trends on Twitter again after leaked SCOTUS draft opinion on Roe v. Wade

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People have flooded social media in outrage in the hours after Politico published a leaked draft opinion indicating on Tuesday the Supreme Court’s intention to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision protecting abortion rights. Woman after woman, activist after activist, person after person shared their stories of what led them to have an abortion. They used the hashtag “shout your abortion.”

In a sentence: Their stories are powerful.

RELATED STORY: Shocking SCOTUS leak shows abortion rights overturned under draft opinion from Justice Alito

I had an abortion at 17, and lost a lot of blood – tissue got stuck and I had to have a procedure to safely remove it and stop me from bleeding excessively. This happened at hospital. I was safe. It was still traumatic. I dread to think of the alternative. #ShoutYourAbortion

— Ria 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿✍️🚀💀👩 (@rialrees) May 3, 2022

Writer and editor Brooke Brannon tweeted: “I had an abortion when I was 28, unmarried, and not ready to have a child. I did not regret it then and do not regret it now. #shoutyourabortion”

my abortion allowed me to safely leave an abusive relationship. it was critical, life saving healthcare. it was the single most important and impactful decision i have ever made. #shoutyourabortion #RoeVsWade pic.twitter.com/AHkel0F6iv

— now streaming “Gaslighter” by the Chicks (@localnotaryhoe) May 3, 2022

Educator Erin Connelly tweeted: “I’m eight months pregnant and now know on a personal level how cruel, dangerous, and limiting it is to force anyone to do any part of this without their consent. Abortion is freedom #shoutyourabortion”
A social media user who goes by Leslie Roos tweeted: “Children, families and communities do best when parents can decide when they are ready to start a family. I made the personal very tough decision to have an abortion in 2008 and stand in solidarity and with all my love for with anyone who needs to do the same. #ShoutYourAbortion”

When I was 26 I had a second abortion. Also the right choice. My body. My choice #ShoutYourAbortion

— Kerri with attitude (@kerricleaver73) May 3, 2022

While many are sharing their stories in an attempt to remove the shame and stigma attached to getting an abortion, others chose to share their stories anonymously via a platform dubbed Shout Your Abortion. The organization, a nonprofit, has the mission of “working to normalize abortion through art, media, and community events all over the country.”

Amelia Bonow founded the organization with social justice activist Lindy West after Republicans tried to defund Planned Parenthood in 2015. Bonow wrote in an Oprah.com essay that she shared her abortion story on Facebook then. “On September 19, 2015, I blew up my life,” Bonow wrote. “Not intentionally—I was in Seattle, looking forward to finishing a master’s program in mental health counseling. In fact, I was supposed to be writing a paper when I found out that the House of Representatives had voted to defund Planned Parenthood.”

RELATED STORY: Leaked draft opinion shows Supreme Court striking down 50 years of precedent on abortion rights 

Bonow continued:

I kind of unraveled, sitting on my couch crying, wondering, Who’s standing up for the clinic workers? And for women who have abortions? I opened Facebook and, without thinking, wrote, “Like a year ago, I had an abortion at Planned Parenthood…and I remember this experience with a nearly inexpressible level of gratitude.” I hit Post 153 words later, and everything changed. 

She said after posting on Facebook, people responded with their own abortion stories, and aided by a screenshot from West, Bonow’s post went viral. 

“Over the next couple of days, tens of thousands of women flooded social media to talk about their abortions. And I received abuse and threats; one site released my home address,” Bonow wrote. “I was inundated by media requests and had some tough conversations— my conservative 93-year-old grandmother wasn’t thrilled to hear Glenn Beck talking about me on his radio show.

“But after we discussed it for an hour on the phone, even she said she was proud of me.”

If you would like to share your story about abortion, please feel free to do so in the comments.

Donate here to support those who may be seeking an abortion.

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Reproductive rights protests erupt nationwide in wake of leaked SCOTUS opinion

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Protests began Monday night in the wake of Politico publishing a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito that would essentially overturn Roe v. Wade and bodes terribly for reproductive rights. With Alito’s lengthy opinion threatening a host of rights, including marriage equality, people have taken to the streets to fight against such a damaging potential ruling. Demonstrations in front of the Supreme Court saw hundreds of people coming together in a show of solidarity. Shortly after, protests were planned across the country. Multiple demonstrations will take place in New York, with Amazon Labor Union organizer Christian Smalls among countless others tweeting times and locations for events. Smalls’ tweet shows how intrinsically linked reproductive rights are to labor rights, as workers have been battling for decades for equality in health care and access to necessary services like abortions.

Countless unions have voiced their support of preserving Roe, as have activists in other organizing spaces. It only makes sense that their calls for reproductive justice would include taking to the streets on Tuesday. In Michigan, where abortion restrictions preceding Roe were never eliminated, Planned Parenthood is asking folks to take to the state capitol Tuesday evening. Organizers with the Women’s March have urged people across the country to demonstrate in front of courthouses, federal buildings, town halls, and squares. And groups like the Party for Socialism and Liberation also have protests planned around the country on Tuesday and Wednesday.

More and more scenes from protests are popping up on social media, with demonstrators gathering in Georgia, Nebraska, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Currently huge crowd at Philadelphia’s city hall to protest for abortion rights. pic.twitter.com/3tm4ChWeIX

— Michelle Harven (@MichelleHarven) May 3, 2022

Large protest at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta in support of abortion rights. #11alive pic.twitter.com/w3jZHpCCCP

— Hope Ford (@hope_iam) May 3, 2022

More than 100 people gathered outside Omaha City Hall on Tuesday evening to protest a possible overturning of #RoeVWade. Nebraska lawmakers could be called for a special session on a “trigger law,” which failed by two votes last month. More: https://t.co/16Hc0rWYDe pic.twitter.com/VswncEukrJ

— 6 News WOWT (@WOWT6News) May 3, 2022

I love a good protest. #HandsOffOurBodies https://t.co/LD7jCVHNfP pic.twitter.com/Y2Fihhb5lr

— Crysta K. Coburn 🇺🇦 (@crystakcoburn) May 3, 2022

Reacting to the leaked Supreme Court documents, a crowd is forming in Downtown Bryan as people across the country head to their local courthouse to protest abortion restrictions. READ MORE: https://t.co/2sJLonINuu pic.twitter.com/Injyv8e7Lb

— KBTX News (@KBTXNews) May 3, 2022

The protest has now turned into a March. They’re walking through downtown Columbia. @KRCG13 pic.twitter.com/H4sHgMcWuP

— Jessica Hart KRCG (@JessicaHartTV) May 3, 2022

Demonstrators in Florida are rightfully targeting Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is not only aggressively anti-abortion but has made a concerted effort to enact laws that target reproductive health care access for pregnant people and the LGBTQ community.

#stpetersburg rally at city hall to protest #scotus attack on womens health. Great speech by @micheleforfl #prochoice #WomensRights #DeSantisDestroysFlorida #floridademocrats @richiejfloyd @CharlieCrist pic.twitter.com/heHrdPclhS

— Lizzy (@Lizzy3483x) May 3, 2022

Group at second protest chanting “racist, sexist, anti-gay, Ron DeSantis go away.” pic.twitter.com/bUtWHWx6TR

— Rochelle Alleyne (@RochelleAlleyne) May 3, 2022

My state is showing out, y’all! Reproductive rights are especially essential for communities in Louisiana, which is one of 13 states that have trigger laws on the books that would automatically ban abortions were Roe to be reversed. Louisiana also faces some of the most severe weather threats due to climate change, which further threatens access to reproductive health care. As I wrote earlier, reproductive justice is an essential component of seeking environmental justice.

Right now people against the potential overturn of Roe v. Wade are rallying in front of the Louisiana State Capitol. @WAFB pic.twitter.com/TBJBFoq6h3

— Kellie Sanchez (@kelliesanchezTV) May 3, 2022

Hundreds took to Kerry Park in Seattle to protest Alito’s draft opinion and the potential elimination of Roe v. Wade. Though the state of Washington has relatively progressive laws protecting the right to choose, many who live there have had to travel more than 25 miles for abortion access — a particularly barrier for more vulnerable communities.

I estimate about 450-500 people showed up at Kerry Park on Queen Anne to protest anti abortion legislation that could potentially reverse Roe vs Wade. pic.twitter.com/nkQEDyEJD4

— diane lewis (@dianelewis48) May 3, 2022

We Testify provided space outside the Supreme Court for those who’ve had an abortion to share their stories. The organization has done powerful work to center reproductive health care in its fight for equality while also supporting the LGBTQ community.

Speaking now in #LiberateAbortion yellow: @FGossGraves pic.twitter.com/nO7NZjYAM5

— Renee Bracey Sherman (@RBraceySherman) May 3, 2022

Next up: @mayawiley #LiberateAbortion pic.twitter.com/xz6yIS19we

— Renee Bracey Sherman (@RBraceySherman) May 3, 2022

New Yorkers are out in full force to protest Alito’s draft opinion and advocate for reproductive rights. Multiple demonstrations are taking place across New York City, including at Barclays Center and Foley Square.

new yorkers are out here and we’re PISSED. we’re not going to let conservative extremists take away our human right to abortion. #BansOffOurBodies pic.twitter.com/fvtP0WQnWE

— Marisa Kabas (@MarisaKabas) May 3, 2022

So far, the amount of pro-choice demonstrators have far exceeded the amount of counter-protesters near the Supreme Court.

Here at the West front of the Supreme Court, pro-choice and anti-abortion activists are gathered, with Capitol Police enforcing a wide no-man’s-land in between. Hundreds of pro-choice on North side of 1st St, about a hundred anti-abortion on South. pic.twitter.com/cTUjmeIDaP

— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) May 3, 2022

A crowd has gathered in Portland, Maine in front of the U.S. District court. Planned Parenthood shared a tweet of the scene:

Speakers in Portland are ready to rally for abortion rights & justice! #RoeVWade #ProtectAbortionRights #MEPolitics pic.twitter.com/AaVvjYS887

— Planned Parenthood (@PPMEAF) May 3, 2022

Demonstrations are taking shape in the nation’s capital, with Politico’s Nicholas Wu noting the presence of dump trucks meant to “block 1st St. and the SCOTUS protests.” Additional on-the-ground footage shows the steps to the Supreme Court completely blocked off.

Dump trucks are being moved into place to block 1st St and the SCOTUS protests – these are usually placed around protests to prevent people from driving in pic.twitter.com/EHS69Usihe

— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) May 3, 2022

Here’s a look outside of the Supreme Court right now. @CapitolPolice have the entire front steps from @USSupremeCourt to across the street completely blocked-off as protesters & spectators gather on the sides. @fox5dc pic.twitter.com/WtBsHjfX02

— Stephanie Ramirez (@RamirezReports) May 3, 2022

We’re horrified, saddened, and livid. If you are too, then now is the time to show up and show them our movement won’t back down from protecting our reproductive rights. Tomorrow, at 5pm your local time, we’re rallying across America for abortion rights: https://t.co/sqXWyOs9He https://t.co/TlZTQJR0Rn

— Women’s March (@womensmarch) May 3, 2022

I’ll be following the protests as they unfold throughout the evening so please comment if you’re attending any actions in your community. And sign the petition urging Congress to codify Roe v. Wade.