Hundreds of high school students cut class Thursday for the second time this month to march for abortion rights. It is the third march they have led since the nationwide protest on May 14.
New York City’s youth gathered at Union Square on May 19 as the Supreme Court’s potential decision to overturn Roe v. Wade looms. This ever-present dark cloud spurred some 200, mostly female, students who chanted, “Hands off our reproductive rights!”
The demonstrators decked out in green—the international color representing abortion rights— walked out of class at 1pm before meeting at the park carrying signs and banners denouncing the leaked draft. Students from middle school, high school, and colleges including Hunter College, Lehman College, Stuyvesant High School, Beacon School, NY ICE Middle School, Polly Prep, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, Dalton, Trevor, and more joined the social media call from RiseUp4AbortionRights.
This was the third consecutive week that students led walkouts, including May 12 where 2,000 NYC students abandoned their schools to take to the streets and on May 14 where they joined over 50 cities throughout the nation to protest, according to RiseUp4AbortionRights.
Fighting against what they call female enslavement, the group set off through the streets tailed by the NYPD. It wasn’t an easy march, however.
Several individuals who disagreed with the cause heckled the marchers, prompting the NYPD to step in before an altercation could take place.
The marchers ended their trek in Washington Square Park where they continued to demand the government refrain from governing the human body. Clamoring atop the edge of the fountain, protesters roared: “the government will not control us!”
