Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Shares Powerful Story During Protest On Roe Decision
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) shared a powerful story about her feelings toward abortion during a protest over the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood on Friday.
Ocasio-Cortez, who made an appearance in New York City’s Washington Square Park, told abortion rights protesters that they need to be “relentless” to restore legalized abortion in the U.S.
The congresswoman thanked women for sharing stories about abortions at the demonstration and decided to share her story about a time she may have needed an abortion.
Ocasio-Cortez, who previously worked at a coffee shop in New York City, said there was a free family health center near her workplace and she supported friends — including sexual assault survivors — by bringing them to the center when they needed care.
She later shared a memory about the time she wondered whether she needed an abortion at 22 or 23 years old.
″[I] was raped while I was living here in New York City, I was completely alone...” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“In fact I felt so alone I had to take a pregnancy test at a public bathroom in Midtown Manhattan and when I sat there waiting for what the result would be, all I could think was ‘thank God I have at least a choice.’”
The congresswoman has spoke out on abortion rights in the past including in 2021 when she told GOP politicians they were “attempting to legislate reproductive systems that they know nothing about.”
You can watch the congresswoman’s recent address to New York City protesters below.
AOC just arrived at the Union Square event where women are sharing their abortion stories. She just told the crowd how when she was raped in her early 20s, she was grateful to know that, had she become pregnant, abortion care was readily available. pic.twitter.com/wBUIDB5gcC
— Jenna Amatulli (@ohheyjenna) June 25, 2022
More on the Supreme Court abortion ruling:
Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade, dismantling decades-old precedent
Roe overturned: The fight begins
Abortion is now illegal in these states
Liberal justices dissent with “sorrow” for “millions of American women”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “We have to fill the streets”
Clarence Thomas: Cases protecting gay marriage and contraception should be next
Republicans make it clear they want to ban abortion nationwide
Donald Trump praises SCOTUS decision
West Coast states launch a plan to protect out-of-state abortion patients
Here’s how the world is reacting to the end of Roe
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.