Hundreds gather in Dam Square to protest for abortion rights

Protesters flooded Dam Square in Amsterdam on Saturday afternoon to support abortion rights in the Netherlands, in response to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that abolished people’s constituional right to abortions. The organizers of the protest call for the removal of abortion from the Dutch Criminal Code.

The demonstration, which began at 1 p.m. on Saturday, is organized by the groups Baas in Eigen Buik (Boss of Your Own Belly) and Abortus is Een Recht (Abortion is a Right). They call attention to the fact that, although people can receive abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in the Netherlands, and after that time under certain conditions, abortion is still punishable under the Dutch Criminal Code if not performed in a hospital or abortion clinic.

“We seize this moment to speak out against the injustice in the United States, while at the same time calling for attention to abortion law in the Netherlands,” the organizers wrote on Facebook. “The anti-abortion lobby in our country is large and influential…abortion is not a crime, but a human right.”

Hundreds of people held up signs saying, for example, “My body, my choice” or “Abortion is healthcare” as they listened to speakers at a podium. Some protesters wrote the slogan “boss of your own belly” across their stomachs.

Baas in Eigen Buik called June 24 a “a black day for people with a uterus worldwide” after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. This is not the only abortion rights protest Dam Square has seen in recent months: in May, a solidarity demonstration was also held there. Two people were arrested for disturbing the peace at that event.