Fort Lauderdale Pro-Choice Rally Joins Women's Rights Events Held Across The Country
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – In coordinated rallies from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, pro-choice advocates marched in protest against new laws restricting abortions in several states.
So far in 2019, eight states have passed laws limiting abortion rights.
Five states have so-called heartbeat bills that ban abortions after six-to-eight weeks of pregnancy, when the heartbeat of a fetus is detectable.
Alabama's law bans all abortions, unless the mother's life is threatened.
Court challenges are underway, or expected, in every state where new laws have passed.
In the meantime, pro-choice advocates across the country, and here in South Florida, are making sure their voices are heard.
Residents rallied outside the Federal Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale to demand an end to abortion bans.
Over 150 people turned out at the heavily Democratic Broward County event.
Staging the rally was the Pro-Choice Coalition of Broward County. They maintain abortion rights are a health care issue between a woman and her doctor.
"We as a country believe fundamentally that women have a right to choose what they do with their bodies," said rally organizer Joy Garcia. "That's already been decided in our court system."