Some Americans are observing International Women’s Day with a call to action. Protests and rallies are set to take place Saturday in communities across the country as part of the Women’s March “Unite and Resist” mobilization effort.
The prominent women’s rights organization, which formed in the days after Donald Trump’s first inauguration, said the goal of Saturday’s events is to “build and strengthen the relationships we’ll need to face what’s ahead.” The group encouraged people to “create the networks we’ll need to resist fascism and the takeover of our freedoms.”
The planned mobilization comes six weeks into Trump’s second administration. Since taking office, Trump has authorized several executive actions that are likely to have a disproportionate effect on women. Not least among these is the executive order the president signed within hours of his inauguration dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal government. The following day, Trump rescinded a decades-old executive order that prohibited government contractors from discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.
Some legal experts worry the moves could give the federal government, the largest employer in the United States, a green light to discriminate.
Since taking office, Trump has authorized several executive actions that are likely to have a disproportionate effect on women. Many activists are also concerned about threats to abortion access. Trump’s appointment of three conservative justices to the Supreme Court in his first term paved the way for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, which overturned 50 years of precedent guaranteeing the right to abortion. During his campaign, Trump frequently flip-flopped on whether he would sign a national abortion ban as president, eventually declaring he would veto such a bill if it reached his desk. Still, his administration appears to be cracking down on access to reproductive health care via other avenues. The Justice Department filed a motion this week to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Biden administration over Idaho’s near-total abortion ban. And on Thursday, Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Marty Makary, told a Senate committee that he would review a Biden-era rule that allows patients to get mifepristone, one of two pills frequently used in a medication abortion, without seeing a health care provider in person. The pill, which is also used for miscarriage care, has become a lifeline for women in states with more draconian restrictions. Women of Michigan Action Network, one of the local organizations working with Women’s March, invited members of its community to join Saturday’s event, laying out what it believes is at stake in a statement: “Our rights and our country are being threatened on every front: freedom of the press, marriage equality, healthcare, the economy, reproductive freedom, a functioning government, and our right to live in a democracy, not a dictatorship!”
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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