Poll workers train for conflict: ‘A little nervous? I am.’
When I got to my first-ever U.S. Capitol meeting on Capitol Hill last November, it felt a little different.
A large group of women — almost 300 of them — from Planned Parenthood, the Feminist Majority, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health and other groups gathered in a conference room behind the Senate and House office buildings in the Hart Senate building. They were there to discuss the new “Bathroom Bill” that the Senate passed on Thursday.
A group of women who are active in making sure the Capitol stays open to women and families gather ahead of the final day of debate on the “Bathroom Bill” on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, July 7, 2019. (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy except in cases where the mother’s health or the life of the fetus was in danger. Women seeking abortions would be required to have a sonogram or other physical evidence to back up their claim.
This is a significant bill because President Donald Trump is expected to sign it, giving it his signature before he leaves office. It will be signed into law on Jan. 20, 2021, by a Democratic Senate, a Democratic House and a Democratic governor in the same Republican-leaning state as Mr. Trump.
In the past, abortion has been limited to abortion in case of rape and incest.
This bill is part of a larger movement that began two years ago, after the president announced his administration’s plan to ban transgender people from serving in the military. The ban has now been replaced with the ban on abortion. The final version of both bills have the same goal, though the wording is different, and both are backed by anti-abortion groups.
While the number of women participating in these rallies has dramatically increased since the start of the protests, the protesters remain women — not just organizers but also the women who have to actually go out into the streets on a given day. In the past, women who were in these rallies