On Tuesday, at least 17 House Democrats were arrested outside the U.S. Supreme Court building for blocking traffic during a planned “civil disobedience” abortion protest.
According to Axios, police arrested Democrat Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Carolyn Maloney of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, Nydia Velazquez of New York, Barbara Lee of California, Jackie Speier of California, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Sara Jacobs of California, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Andy Levin of Michigan, Alma Adams of North Carolina, Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, Veronica Escobar of Texas, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.
Video footage that was posted on Twitter by The Daily Signal’s Douglas Blair showed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pretending to be handcuffed as she was escorted away by police.
The imagery of Ocasio-Cortez pretending to be handcuffed along with the decision of those in the legislative branch to protest current laws rather than legislate new ones quickly led to mockery online.
— The Right To Bear Memes (@grandoldmemes) July 19, 2022
The Democrat lawmakers’ protests were over the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion across the country. Notably, the Supreme Court’s majority opinion said that it is time to “return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives” – which would be the ones protesting the decision.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely—the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Justice Alito wrote in his majority opinion.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division,” Alito wrote. “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
