Thousands of women gathered in Washington, DC, to show support for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and defend reproductive rights.
Harris, currently the vice president, has prioritized abortion rights as a key issue in her campaign against Republican candidate Donald Trump, who has previously endorsed the 2022 Supreme Court decision that removed federal protection for abortion rights.

“For me, voting for the candidate who will support our rights as women is the most important thing,” said 19-year-old Leah Brooker, who traveled from North Carolina for the rally just three days before Election Day. Having cast her vote in early voting, she added, “It feels incredibly empowering that my first vote was for a woman.”
Brooker held a sign reading, “If boys will be boys, then women will be presidents.” Other rally signs included messages like “Voting prevents unwanted presidencies” and “A woman’s place is in the Oval Office.”
Organizers estimated that around 15,000 people attended the event, with sister marches held in other cities across the US.
Against the iconic backdrop of the US Capitol, speakers at Freedom Plaza energized the crowd for the 60-year-old Harris’s campaign. “We’re not going back!” they chanted, echoing one of Harris’s campaign slogans.
Marlene Wagner, a 70-year-old retiree from Nebraska, attended the rally for the sake of her children and grandchildren, saying she fears for their future. In her state, abortion is restricted after 12 weeks of pregnancy—a rule enacted after Trump-appointed justices in 2022 shifted the Supreme Court toward ending federal abortion rights previously established under Roe v. Wade.

Abortion-related measures are on the ballot in 10 states this election, including referendums that coincide with the presidential vote. In Nebraska, one proposal aims to add further abortion restrictions to the state constitution, while another seeks to extend the time frame during which abortion is allowed.
For Wagner, who had also attended the first Women’s March in 2017 after Trump’s election, the stakes couldn’t be higher. These abortion restrictions, she said, “have already had repercussions because women aren’t able to get the care they need.”