Several Democratic lawmakers arrested during pro-abortion protest
Washington, Jul 19 (EFE).- Police arrested several Democratic congresswomen, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, on Tuesday during a protest in favor of the right to abortion in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington DC.
As EFE learned, Ocasio-Cortez was handcuffed and arrested by Capitol Police officers for blocking traffic in front of the high court building.
US media outlets reported that among the other Democratic legislators present at the protest were Nydia Velazquez, Carolyn Maloney and Jackie Speier, all representing districts in New York, and Bonnie Watson Coleman (New Jersey).
The Capitol Police tweeted that 16 members of Congress were arrested.
Among those detained and arrested in addition to Ocasio-Cortez were Coleman, Speier and Maloney, but also Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts), Ilhan Omar (Minnesota), Andy Levin (Michigan), Cori Bush (Missouri), Alma Adams (North Carolina) and Veronica Escobar (Texas).
Last Friday, the US House of Representatives, where Democrats hold a thin majority, approved two bills protecting nationwide access to abortion, although the measures have little chance of being passed in the Senate, where progressives arguably only control 50 of the 100 seats.
One of the initiatives supports access to the means for voluntarily interrupting an unwanted pregnancy by enshrining that right as federal law and the other protects travel to US states where abortion is legal to undergo the procedure.
In late June, the heavily conservative Supreme Court overturned the legal protections for abortion, revoking in a 6-3 decision the 1973 ruling in the controversial Roe v. Wade case.
A number of states controlled by Republicans have restricted or completely banned abortion since the high court ruling.
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