Miami

Crowds Gather in Bayfront Park For ‘Bans Off Miami' Abortion Rights Protest

The Bans Off Miami protest for reproductive rights took place Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Bayfront Park

NBC Universal, Inc.

Crowds gathered in Bayfront Park to attend the Bans Off Miami: Rise Up protest for abortion rights on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Demonstrators have been protesting across the country since the Supreme Court overturned fifty years of abortion protections on June 24.

By overturning Roe, the court has allowed states to enact strict abortion limits, including many that had previously been deemed unconstitutional. The ruling is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

"It is very frustrating, and it does fill me with anger because who are they tell me what I can and can’t do," protestor Yvonne Feliciano, said.

The organization organizers asked that protesters wear green — the color that symbolizes the reproductive rights movement in many countries.

Organizers implemented several safety measures, including the attendance of members of the Miami Street Medicine team and legal observers.

One of the organizers of the event, Kat Duesterhaus, said she survived brutal sexual assault as a teenager.

"As somebody who survived rape at 14 years old by 5 men, I cannot imagine if I had been impregnated by one of my rapists and denied access to reproductive healthcare," Duesterhaus said.

Additionally, the organization has consulted with an ACLU attorney, and says, "As long as we are peacefully exercising our 1st Amendment Rights to free speech and complying with law enforcement, we will be within our constitutional right to protest."

The organizers also advised attendees not to bring any kind of weapon or anything that could be viewed as a weapon, pocket knife, etc.).

Additionally, attendees were told to stay out of streets and roadways, not touch, tamper with, or destroy any public property, and stay away from and be deferential to any police action.

On Friday, the House passed two bills aimed at protecting access to abortion at the federal level, one of the bills would prevent a woman or child from being punished for traveling to another state to get an abortion.

In Florida, a woman cannot have an abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Florida does not have a so-called trigger law that would ban abortion almost immediately.

The Florida Constitution also has a unique right to privacy that the State Supreme Court interpreted in 1980.

Contact Us