Thousands of women march for their rights and for Harris

“Voting prevents unwanted presidencies”: thousands of women gathered on Saturday in the streets of Washington, brandishing eloquent signs three days before the American presidential election, to support Kamala Harris against Donald Trump.

The Democratic candidate has made the defense of the right to abortion a central theme of her campaign, and it is the one that comes up in all the mouths of the demonstrators who participate in this “women’s march”.

“Voting for the candidate who will support our rights as women is the most important thing for me,” Leah Brooker, 19, who came for the occasion from North Carolina, told AFP. She who voted in advance in this key state was delighted to have been able to give her vote to a woman for her first vote in a presidential election.

In her hands, alongside her best friend, she holds a carefully crafted sign: “If guys will be guys, then women will be presidents,” we can read.

On a stage set up in the “Freedom Plaza”, speakers follow one another and call to vote for the 60-year-old Democratic candidate, with the dome of the American Congress as a backdrop. “We will not go back!” chanted the crowd, adopting one of Kamala Harris’ campaign slogans.

Marlene Wagner, 70, flew from Nebraska to attend the event. She says she is here “for my grandchildren and my children, because I am afraid for their future.” In his state, the right to abortion was restricted to a maximum of 12 weeks of pregnancy, after the American Supreme Court, significantly overhauled by Donald Trump, reversed federal protection for voluntary terminations of pregnancy (abortion).

Referendums on the right to abortion are being organized on Tuesday in 10 states in parallel with the presidential vote. In Nebraska, one proposal seeks to enshrine the new restriction in the state constitution, while another seeks to extend the length of time allowed for an abortion. For Marlene Wagner, the choice was quickly seen.

The restrictions have “already had repercussions, because women have not been able to obtain the care they need,” laments the woman who also came in 2017 to the first women’s march, which followed Donald’s inauguration Trump and brought together hundreds of thousands of people.

This time again, we could see “pussy hats”, pink caps with cat ears, in reference to a crude expression of the former Republican president.

In Washington, some counter-protesters accusing Kamala Harris of being a “baby killer” also sought to be heard on Saturday, even if women struggled to cover their voices and their signs.

Donald Trump is “very dangerous” and “does not take women into consideration,” accuses Abby Cohen, 66, not far from a family planning stand. “We are 50% of the population.”

In three days, “I hope all women will vote for Harris,” dreams the New Yorker, just before the crowd heads to a lawn facing the White House. “But I hope all men vote for Harris, too.”