These Photos Show How Abortion Protests Have Evolved Since 1973

A look at Americans supporting Roe v. Wade over the years.

By

by Christina Baez

BuzzFeed Staff

Posted on July 7, 2022, 3:49 pm

For nearly 50 years, Americans across the country have been demonstrating for the right to have an abortion. On Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for states to ban access to abortion services. Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, people are once again protesting across the US.

Here’s what those protests have looked like throughout the years:

Protesters' signs read "abortion is our right" and "68% of Catholics favor woman's right to abortion"

Protesters carry a cross and signs reading "abortion is a woman's right" and "free us from the cross of religious oppression"

Protesters carry signs reading "freedom of choice for women," "low-cost birth control advice," "stop police surveillance of peaceful meetings," and "abortion is a woman's right"

A woman stands behind a microphone outside

A woman stands near protesters carrying signs reading "if priests became pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament" and "get your religion off our bodies"

A protester holds a sign reading "I am almost 87 years old and I believe in abortion rights"

A woman holding up a sign reading "It's My Body And I Have A Right To Choose"

A protest sign shows an equation of a gender glyph denoting women plus a coat hanger equals death, represented by a skull and crossbones

A demonstrator in a demon mask during a rally stands beneath California and US flags with a sign reading "anti-choice equals fascist"

A protester holds a sign that reads "if abortion is murder, fucking is a felony"

People walking in the street hold up a large banner that reads "no bad women, only bad laws"

Demonstrators in a city street hold a sign reading "thanks, rapists and right-to-lifers for giving us forced pregnancy and forced childbirth"

A demonstrator's sign shows Ronald Reagan holding up a gun with the text "You'll have that kid or I'll kill the both of you"

A demonstrator's sign reads "pro-choice, quality choices, quality lives"

Demonstrators in a large crowd hold signs reading "uphold Roe v Wade" and "protect every child's right to be a wanted child" and "pro-choice is pro-life"

Protesters crowd the space around the Washington Monument and reflecting pool

People line up along a street holding signs reading "keep abortion legal" and "honk if you're pro-choice"

Women wearing white hold up signs reading "physicians for choice" and "keep abortion legal"

A protester holds up a sign reading "mandatory pregnancy is un-American"

A sign in a garbage can reads, "Why are the men who rule America so obsessed with controlling women's lives?"

Protesters hold a sign with a broken wire coat hanger reading "never again"

Women wear face masks and gags in their mouths with signs around their necks reading "breeding unit"

A banner held by demonstrators in a large crowd reads "pro-choice is pro-life"

Demonstrators hold a banner reading "we won't go back, we will fight back"

A woman with a wide mouth holds up a bright yellow sign reading "no government intervention in women's wombs"

A crowd of demonstrators

People march in the street holding a banner "stand up for choice 2000"

Demonstrators hold up signs reading "pass a woman's right to know"

Demonstrators hold up signs reading "never go back" and "keep abortion legal"

A person wears a hat with birthday candles and a small paper decoration reading "happy birthday roe v wade"

Two signs read "who decides?" and "where are the women?": the first showing George W Bush between the legs of a person on a medical examining table, the other showing a group of male politicians standing around Bush signing a document into law

People lie on the ground with red-stained jeans and bloody coat hangers near signs reading "abortion on demand and without apology"

A protester holds up a sign reading "Save Roe" in front of the Supreme Court steps

A demonstrator holds a sign reading "forced birth equals violence"

Protesters hold signs reading "stop the war on choice" and "choose justice"

A coat hanger in front of the Supreme Court is held up and labeled with a piece of paper reading "we won't go back to illegal abortions, drive out the Bush regime"

People carrying signs outside talk passionately at each other

Protesters hold signs reading "don't turn back the clock" and "prevention not prohibition"

A demonstrator holds a sign reading "If the fetus you save is gay, will you still fight for its rights"

A protester in a crowd holds up a sign reading "not your uterus, not your opinion"

A protester's sign reads "Catholic priests no young boys here go home"

A nighttime view of a crowd of demonstrators

Demonstrators hold signs reading "can't just be theoretically legal" and "must be literally accessible"

Demostrators hold signs reading "keep clinics open" and "prioritize women's health"

Demonstrators standing in front of a government building hold signs that read "lawmakers, mind your own uterus"

A protester standing near the Gateway Arch in St. Louis holds a sign reading "OMG GOP WTF"

Demonstrators in the street hold signs reading "women are more than wombs" and "stop the bans"

Protesters stand in a park and hold up signs reading "I am so tired of men" and "women dissent" and "if you don't fight for all women you fight for no women"

A demonstrator holds a sign reading "I'm with her" with arrows pointing in all directions

A protest sign in front of a government building reads "pro Roe 1973"

A demonstrator wearing a shirt that says "fuck Texas" holds up a sign reading "in America women's bodies are under attack"

A demonstrator holds upa. sign reading "power of women engaging in repro, we are the majority"

Two demonstrators hold signs reading "don't tread on me" and "my pro-choice grandma fought for this so I wouldn't have to"

Demonstrators hold signs reading "keep your policies off my body" and "defend Roe by any means necessary"

An activist shouts into the microphone of a megaphone, in front of others holding signs reading "abortion on demand and without apology"

Protesters hold each other and cry in front of the Supreme Court building

Topics in this article

Abortion Rights

Christina Baez
BuzzFeed Staff