Celebrities Rally Behind Women’s March for Reproductive Rights: ‘We Won’t Go Backwards’

Celebrities took to the streets of Los Angeles — and to social media — to support the March for Reproductive Rights on Saturday. The Women’s March coordinated more than 500 gatherings nationwide to voice support for reproductive rights and speak out against Texas’ recent law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy ⁠— before most women discover that they have conceived ⁠— with no exceptions for incest or rape.

Among the participants at the L.A. march were Alyssa Milano, Debbie Allen, Patricia and Rosanna Arquette, Christine Lahti and Raven-Symoné. The stars joined notables such as women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred, Planned Parenthood L.A. president Ken Lambrecht and Planned Parenthood’s Sue Dunlap.

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As pictured above, Allen brought her granddaughter, Shiloh, to the march and held her while giving her speech.

“I wanted to bring her today because what is the world that I am raising her into, what is going to happen with Shiloh when she becomes of age and needs to make a choice. She should be able to make a choice,” Allen said. “I am standing tall with every woman in this country and around the world. It is time for us to proclaim our equality, our justice, our freedom.”

Milano, Rosanna Arquette and Patricia Arquette also made speeches.

“Here we are again, having another moment where we demand to be heard, because the stakes have never been higher,” Rosanna Arquette said. “What have we learned since we were last together? That equal rights have a ceiling? We learned that despite all our promises for protecting Roe v. Wade, all our rights could be obliterated with the stroke of a corrupt governor’s pen.”

University of Texas at Austin freshman and Dallas resident Paxton Smith also joined the march in L.A. Smith drew nationwide attention in June when she changed her valedictorian speech to give an impassioned plea against Texas’ restrictive legislation. “I cannot give up this platform to promote complacency and peace, when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights,” Smith said in her speech.

The college freshman recently spoke at Variety’s Power of Women event, in which she continued to encourage others to fight the new legislation. “The time for silence on the issue has come and gone,” Smith said. “There is no more time for complacency, there is no more time to wait and see what happens next, because the very thing we are afraid of is happening right now. And the unbearable truth is that could soon be the reality for far more than just Texans.”

Milano also voiced her support of the march on Twitter, writing: “Today I march for women. But men — I’ve got some words for you too so get ready.”

Amy Schumer posted a photo on Instagram of her at a march with Jennifer Lawrence. Schumer, who recently had surgery to remove her uterus due to her endometriosis, wrote: “I don’t have a uterus and she is pregnant but we out here.”

See more shows of support below.

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