Abortion rights protests kick off planned 'summer of rage'

Organizers of nationwide abortion rights protests said they expect hundreds of thousands of people to show up on Saturday at events in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other major cities, Reuters reports.

Abortion rights groups have organized more than 300 "Bans off Our Bodies" marches to protest the leaked draft Supreme Court decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade (1973).

According to The Associated Press, if the court's final ruling — which is expected in June — is substantively identical to the draft ruling, "roughly half of states, mostly in the South and Midwest, are expected to" implement near-total bans on abortion.

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"For the women of this country, this will be a summer of rage. We will be ungovernable until this government starts working for us, until the attacks on our bodies let up, until the right to an abortion is codified into law," Women's March President Rachel Carmona said.

On Wednesday, the Senate fell 11 votes short of passing a bill that would have enshrined abortion rights in federal law.