On Saturday, Oct. 2, thousands gathered in DC to protest the potential overturning of Roe V. Wade. The rally included speeches by several notable women’s rights activists. “No matter where you live, no matter where you are, this moment is dark — it is dark — but that’s why we’re here,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood, told the crowd at the “Rally for Abortion Justice.”

The protester’s message is a simple one: don’t overturn Roe v. Wade, but many participants decided to get more creative with their signs. Slogans such as “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries” and “Keep your politics out of my uterus” were among some of the most popular slogans.

Since Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death in September of last year, she has become a figure of women’s rights and has become a person to rally around. Signs depicting Ginsburg were plentiful and sported heartfelt messages like “We are ruthless now, act accordingly.”

“I think it’s amazing that people are protesting and rallying to secure rights [women] deserve and need,” sophomore Rachel Keehn said.

After the rally at Freedom Plaza, protesters marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, led by an all-female drumline and shouting “My body! My choice!” Here a drummer dances to the music and chants of the crowd.

The struggle over women’s reproductive rights is one that has its roots deeply ingrained in America’s patriarchal society. Signs attacking this unfair system included the one pictured and one that read “If men could get pregnant, then abortion would be a sacrament.”

Tens of thousands of women and allies marched all across the US. Throngs of people crowded the streets leading up to the capitol building on their way to the Supreme Court.

The first Women’s March was held in 2017 on the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Now, in 2021, the 5th Women’s march focuses on reproductive rights and protecting the precedent of Roe V. Wade.

A young protester observes the scene below while waving a pansexual pride flag. One thing was made very clear as protesters assembled in Freedom Plaza: people of all genders, ages, ethnicities, religions, and sexualities care about this issue.

“I support a woman’s choice in getting an abortion. It is their choice what to do with their body and their future and I really hate that some states ban that right. They have no business telling women what they can and can’t do with their body,” senior Nehi Pathak said.