Abortion rights protests held around United States

Protests over the leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion that would throw out the court's Roe v. Wade ruling sent people into the streets around the nation.

Around 1,000 people gathered in front of the court Tuesday, the vast majority calling for continued federal protection for abortion rights.

"I can't believe how many women I have met that did this in their lifetime already," said Jessica Fendryk, 39, of Maryland. "And now we have to be fighting for them all over again."

One demonstrator carried a sign declaring, "If men could get pregnant, abortions would be available at every ATM."

At a rally in Manhattan, New York state Attorney General Letitia James announced that nearly two decades ago, she "walked proudly into Planned Parenthood" and had an abortion.

In Texas, several hundred people rallied in Austin on Tuesday, marching down a main avenue downtown.

Small rallies were held in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other California cities.

In LA, about 30 people gathered outside a federal courthouse to chant: "No more shame, no more silence. Forced motherhood is fascist violence."

Ellen Campbell said she knew four women who had abortions, including one friend who had a possibly life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, where the fetus developed outside the uterus.

"She was the only person that should have been making that decision for herself," Campbell said. "It was her life and her body."