With loss of abortion protection, fears over losing more rights grow in US

As demonstrations continue across the US following Friday's Supreme Court ruling overturning federal protection for abortion rights, many in the United States are fearing the loss of other rights.

On Saturday, the second day of protests, many demonstrators in front of the Supreme Court were holding signs and voicing other concerns in addition to protesting the Supreme Court’s decision on abortion.

Signs and chanting – in addition to focusing on abortion rights – also highlighted voting rights, police reform, former President Donald Trump’s legacy, and LGBTQ+ rights.

On Friday morning, it was announced that the US Supreme Court will overturn nearly 50 years of precedent in giving federal protection for abortions under the ruling of Roe v. Wade. Earlier in the week, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, which will now give New York state residents far more leeway to carry concealed weapons, a major victory for gun advocates.

To make matters worse for the political left and marginalised communities, on the same day as Friday's Supreme Court ruling, Justice Clarence Thomas issued a concurrent opinion, strongly suggesting that other rights could be at stake, including same-sex marriage, same sex relations and birth control.

"I'm out here today because you can’t take away women's rights. It's not right to say what a woman can do with her body," Briani Banks, who came to Washington, DC from Philadelphia to protest at the Supreme Court, told The New Arab.

"Isn't this all part of the Fourteenth Amendment?" she asked, referring to the constitutional amendment guaranteeing citizens equal rights under the law, regardless of state (an amendment added after the abolition of slavery during reconstruction).

"That's the crazy part. Same sex marriages. It goes way deeper and way further. And maybe even slavery. You never know. If they can take away this, they can do whatever they want," she added. 

Nadia Rowe, who came with her from Philadelphia for the protest, told TNA, "If you feel like something’s not right and not OK, you have to stand up."

"Right now, they're being very selfish. The thought behind it doesn't make sense to me personally. We don't have baby formula, there's been food shortages, and there's the pandemic," she said. 

She also worries about this precedent taking away other rights, and she says she’s determined to make a change through voting and getting others to the polls for the upcoming elections.

"I'm here today because it's unprecedented that we’ve had these rights removed seemingly so quickly," Adelle Robinson, a resident of northern Virginia, told TNA. "It feels a little bit like a frog in boiling water. All of a sudden, we wake up one day and our rights are removed. And yet it's been happening for many years now."

She says she plans to do more volunteer work with rights organisations.

"It really didn't seem possible that we'd be where we are today, but here we are," Robinson added.