Rallies advocating for abortion rights take place across Long Island, U.S.

Two days before the U.S. Supreme Court begins a new term that includes a case aimed at overturning the constitutional right to an abortion, rallies across Long Island and nationwide Saturday advocated for abortion rights.

"It’s a statement that says we are standing up, that we will not let reproductive rights be attacked without fighting back, and that abortion is a human right," said Sharon Golden, an administrator for Together We Will Long Island, one of more than a dozen groups that organized a rally Saturday outside the Nassau County Court building in Mineola.

At least five other rallies were scheduled for Long Island, and hundreds more took place across the country, according to the website of Women’s March, which helped mobilize participants. The other Long Island rallies had been slated for Great Neck, Huntington Station, Lindenhurst, Port Jefferson Station and Smithtown.

The Supreme Court on Dec. 1 is scheduled to hear arguments in a case involving a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Mississippi’s attorney general is asking the court to use the case to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established a constitutional right to an abortion.

On Sept. 1, the court voted 5-4 to deny an emergency appeal of a Texas law that bans abortion once cardiac activity is detected — usually about six weeks, before many women know they’re pregnant. The result is a ban on most abortions in the state. The U.S. Justice Department filed suit against Texas, and on Friday, Justice Department lawyers urged a federal judge to block the law.

Golden, 72, of Oceanside, said she remembers when abortion was illegal and women were injured or died from unsafe illegal procedures.

"I was around then, and it was horrendous, and we don’t want to go back," she said. "We’re saying we’re not going backwards and put people in jeopardy of their health and their life."

New York legalized abortion three years before Roe v. Wade, in 1970, and in 2019 the State Legislature strengthened that law.

But a number of states have laws banning abortion that would go into effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

With AP

By David Olson

david.olson@newsday.com@DavidOlson11

David Olson covers health care. He has worked at Newsday since 2015 and previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.