On October 2, Barcelona members of Democrats Abroad and the DA Spain Women's Caucus, in collaboration with other women's groups in Barcelona, gathered at Plaza Catalunya to support the protests organized in the US by Women's March and raise our voices in defense of women's reproductive rights. A threat to women's rights anywhere is a threat to women's rights everywhere, and the uncertain future of Roe v. Wade in the US makes it increasingly evident that women and their allies worldwide must speak up and resist this attack. 

Attendees at the protest shared personal stories, historical context about abortion in Spain and their own passionate arguments in favor of a women's right to decide about her own health and her own body. Vice Chair Rachel Mantiñán read the following poem by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman: 

8 Reasons - Amanda Gorman

8 Reasons to Stand Up Today Against Abortion Bans in the United States

1. Let’s get this straight, “When the penalty for rape is less than the penalty for abortion after the rape, you know this isn’t about caring for women and girls. It’s about controlling them.”
2. “Through forcing them into motherhood before they’re ready, these bans steadily sustain the patriarchy, but also chain families in poverty and maintain economic inequality.”
3. “Pregnancy is a private and personal decision and should not require the permission of any politician.”
4. “For all time, regardless of whether it’s a crime, women have and will always seek their own reproductive destinies. All these penalties do is subdue women’s freedom to get healthy, safe services when they most need them.”
5. “Fight to keep Roe v. Wade alive. By the term ‘overturn Roe v. Wade‘, the main concern is that the Supreme Court will let states thwart a woman’s path to abortion with undue burdens. But “one thing is true and certain:”
6. “These predictions aren’t a distortion, hypothetical, or theoretical. Women already face their disproportion of undue burdens when seeking abortions. If the sexes and all people are to be equal, abortion has to be actually accessible and not just technically legal.”
7. “Despite what you might hear, this right here isn’t only about women and girls. This fight is about about fundamental civil rights. Women are a big part of it, but at the heart of it are freedom over how fast our families grow goes farther and larger than any one of us. It’s about every single one of us.”
8. “Fight for Roe v. Wade in the United States because this change can’t wait. We’ve got the energy, the moment, the movement, and the thundering numbers.”

“The alt-right’s biggest blunder is that most Americans aren’t under their impression that a woman’s body is up to them to decide. So when you’re outraged, these lawmakers are terrified. They want our tide to lose hope, to back up, pack up, and go home, so don’t. We won’t. We are never alone when we fight fire with feminism.

“So go, be unafraid. We will not be delayed, we will not be masquerade to the tale of a handmaid. We will not let Roe v. Wade slowly fade because when we show up today, we’re already standing up with the tomorrow we made.”