Thousands protest across U.S. to start 'summer of rage' to defend abortion rights

read more The mood was energetic in downtown Brooklyn as thousands of abortion rights supporters crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan.Elizabeth Holtzman, an 80-year-old marcher who represented New York in Congress from 1973-1981, said that the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion "treats women as objects, as less than full human beings."Malcolm DeCesare, a 34-year-old intensive care unit nurse who attended a rally outside Los Angeles City Hall, said ending the right to a legal abortion could put lives at risk as women seek unsafe alternatives.The actions overall appeared peaceful although at least one counter-protester was escorted away by a security guard in Washington.Students for Life of America, an anti-abortion advocacy group with campus chapters across the country, said it was holding counter protests on Saturday in nine cities, including Washington.At an abortion rights protest in Atlanta, more than 400 people had assembled in a small park in front of the state capitol with about a dozen counter-protesters on a nearby sidewalk.Holding a sign that read, "Stop Child Sacrifice," 23-year-old Bria Marshall, a recent public health graduate from Kennesaw State University, acknowledged her group's smaller turnout.Abortion rights campaigners participate in a demonstration following the leaked Supreme Court opinion suggesting the possibility of overturning the Roe v.