AUSTIN, Texas — A reproductive rights rally was held at the Texas State Capitol on Monday morning, to mark the anniversary of the U.S Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling put abortion access back into the hands of the states, leading to abortion access restrictions nationwide. In Texas, abortion is banned in all instances unless a woman's life is in danger or she is at risk of losing a major bodily function.
The group that gathered outside the Capitol on Monday said they hope to send a message ahead of November's election. The demonstration included people working out as a show of "strengthening" themselves against attacks on reproductive rights and "exercising" their right to vote.
Also present Monday were members of the group W.I.T.C.H., which stands for Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell. They brought cauldrons and cast hexes on those who supported the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, including Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and John Roberts.
Some who were at the rally fought for Roe v. Wade 50 years ago.
"We're here because we know the fight didn't start in some courtroom, and it isn't ending in some courtroom with the Dobbs decision or the legislative decision of SB 8," Alice Embree said. "And we're just going to keep up the fight, and we're going to win the fight."
Congressman Colin Allred (D-Dallas), who is running to try to unseat U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in November, said Cruz championed Texas' near-total abortion ban. A recent poll from the Texas Politics Project shows Allred is trailing Cruz by 10 points in the U.S. Senate race.
Allred and his supporters held a press conference at the Austin Women's Health Center at 3 p.m. Monday, which included "patients and providers who will share their first-hand experiences living under the near-total abortion ban and what’s at stake for reproductive freedoms in this election," according to a press release.
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The other side of the issue
However, not everyone reflecting on the Dobbs v. Jackson decision regards it as a bad thing. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he would be observing June 24 as "Sanctity of Life Day."
"The legacy wrought by Roe v. Wade and other illegitimate partisan judicial decisions directly led to the deaths of an estimated 70 million children," Paxton said in a statement. "Following the overturning of that disastrous legal precedent, I instituted the Sanctity of Life Day within the OAG to serve as a day of remembrance and a celebration of the progress we have made in protecting innocent life."
Paxton added that the "work is far from complete."
"The Biden Administration continues to use unlawful agency regulations and other levers of power to force states to institute its radical abortion agenda even when it violates state laws," Paxton said. "I will never stop defending the sanctity of life against these unconstitutional attempts to undermine Texas’s life-affirming laws."