Democrat members of Congress arrested at abortion rights protest

Arrests of Alexandria Ortasio-Cortez and 16 Democrats highlight pressure on Joe Biden from his own party to enshrine abortion rights nationally.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is detained by US Capitol Police Officers after participating in an abortion rights protest. Picture: AFP.

Washington police have arrested 17 Democrat members of Congress who were protesting about abortion rights outside the Supreme Court, including far-left populist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who faked being in handcuffs as she was escorted away.

The group, including high-profile Squad Democrats Congresswoman Cortez, Ilhan Omar Omar, and Cori Bush, on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) marched from the adjacent Capitol building to the Supreme Court chanting “we won’t go back” and “our body our choice”, adding to pressure on Joe Biden to declare a largely symbolic “public health emergency” over abortion rights.

Kamala Compares Banning Abortion to Slavery

Via @RobertSchmadhttps://t.co/njy83N5PUr

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) July 19, 2022

“It is against the law to block traffic, so officers are going to give our standard three warnings before they start making arrests,” the Capitol police said, noting they had arrested 34 in total for “Crowding, Obstructing or Incommoding” among the scores of protesters.

The arrests, expected to result in fines, draw attention to the political challenge for President Joe Biden as he comes under attack from the left flank of his party for failing to do more to enshrine abortion rights nationally following the highest US court’s reversal of the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade decision a month ago.

California Congresswoman Jackie Spier, who was the leader of the protest, said she was “proud” to march and “get arrested for women’s rights, abortion rights, the rights for people to control their own bodies and the future and our democracy!”

Why are women’s bodies regulated more than guns. pic.twitter.com/a06YUFAYfW

— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) July 19, 2022

Ayanna Pressley, congresswoman from Massachusetts, said the court had been “cruel and callous” to overturn Roe v Wade and strip away abortion rights for everyone who calls America home.”

The court’s decision, widely expected after a highly unusual leak of the verdict in May, returned the right to legislate on abortion matters to the 50 US states, at least 13 of which have moved to ban the procedure outright, causing significant uncertainty across the US for doctors, abortion clinics and women.

Mr Biden, who has described the decision as “terrible, extreme and, I think, so totally wrongheaded”, signed an executive order on 8th July to protect access to abortion, but without legislation the move has limited import, legal experts say.

The far-left of the Democrat party has demanded the president push Congress to legislate, a move bound to fail in the Senate, where Democrats, who hold 50 seats in the 100-seat chamber, could not muster the 60 votes required in the face of almost universal Republican opposition to any change.

The president has been reluctant to declare a “public health emergency” over abortion.

The court’s verdict, initially considered to be a boon for the ruling Democrats, facing a potential wipe out in the November midterm election during record high inflation, has failed to translate into political capital.

Almost two thirds of Americans consistently tell pollsters they support legal abortion, but most also disagree with abortions in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, except in cases of rape or if the health of the mother or foetus.

The latest bout of protests over abortion come at a difficult time for Mr Biden, facing criticism over his recent trip to the Middle East and a legislative agenda run aground less than four months out from Congressional elections his party is expected to lose.

A trimmed down version of the president’s Build Back Better bill, including subsidies for renewable energy and tax increases, collapsed last week after Democrat senator Joe Manchin said he wouldn’t support the bill because of fears it would be inflationary.