News & Politics

The Women’s March Is Back in October to Rally for Reproductive Rights

The organization announced the march after Texas's new abortion laws went into effect.

The 2017 Women's March. Photograph by Evy Mages

The Women’s March returns to Washington on October 2 to rally in support of reproductive rights. Marches are being organized in every state two days before the Supreme Court reconvenes for the October term. The event was announced on September 2, the same day Texas’s new abortion legislation went into effect, banning abortions after six weeks and giving Texans the power to sue abortion providers. On Wednesday night, the Supreme Court voted to uphold the legislation in a 5-4 majority. Texas’s anti-abortion laws are now the most restrictive in the country.

Specific details related to the march’s location and programming have not been released yet. The event page on the organization’s website includes a form where would-be marchers can pledge their participation. The Metropolitan Police Department has not issued a permit for the event.

The inaugural Women’s March in January 2017 was launched in protest of Donald Trump’s election. A march last fall included a tribute to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a protest of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court—a nomination that dissenters felt presented a threat to Roe v. Wade. The rally on October 2 marks the first in-person Women’s March to occur outside of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Daniella Byck
Lifestyle Editor

Daniella Byck joined Washingtonian in 2022. She was previously with Outside Magazine and lives in Northeast DC.