"Solidarity, with women, from all over the world". Applause, shouts and whistles escape from the crowd gathered in front of the US embassy in Luxembourg, along with a cloud of dark pink smoke. According to the Planning Familial, the parenthood planning NGO which is organising the demonstration, there are 250 attendees. Their slogans are loud and clear and can also be seen on the placards they are carrying: "My body, my choice", "abortion is a right, it's a choice".
Among them, Eve Frisch, 23, and Ana Rodrigues, 24, have written "Pro-choice” in coloured letters on their posters. "No one should be forced to have a child," says the former. "It's shocking that basic rights can be extinguished so quickly." "In the US, grandmothers had more rights than their granddaughters. It's a step back in time," her friend added.
Soon, the demonstrators staged the sit-in. Sitting on her blanket, Irdelle Lagnide, 48, says she came from her workplace in Contern during her lunch break: "I wanted to be there to denounce this monstrosity.” When she heard that the US Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade, which until now has guaranteed abortion rights in the country, she felt a mix of "anger, sadness and incomprehension”. "It was a shock to see that once again we are going backwards. We are in the 21st century and we have come to the point where we are forbidding women to have control over their bodies. I fear that in Europe too, the question is being asked,” she says.
Fears for Europe and Luxembourg
Further on, Ernest Welter, 61, came "for [his] daughter who was never born". He is not surprised by the American decision. "There, every street is a church". But he is indignant at the inaction of other countries.
"It's an outrageous decision that worries me a lot," adds Sacha Sirovec, 59, whose husband is American. She called it an "anomaly" that a few judges can "decide on something that the public opposes". A Gallup poll conducted in May found that 55% of Americans claim to be "pro-choice". "We have to fight again. Be vigilant", in Europe as well as in Luxembourg, she says.
Yes, it's always the same issues, because the same issues are challenged.
Antonia Gareto, spokesperson for the Afrofeminist association Finkapé, was also at the sit-in. "With this backtracking, it is the most vulnerable people who will suffer, because they will not have the means to get around this law", by moving to another state or country where abortion is allowed. She fears for "African-American and Latina women in a precarious situation".
The struggle continues
Will Bakker, a member of the Democrats Abroad party, was also among the group of protesters. "I am here out of gratitude for the Luxembourgers present, out of solidarity. And also because our system is broken, to produce such results,” he explains.
The demonstration was held between noon and 1pm. "Our message was heard", said Ainhoa Achutegui, president of the Family Planning. The action in front of the embassy was a "message of solidarity" to American women.
In Luxembourg, the organisation is calling for the right to abortion to be enshrined in the constitution. "We are going to fight for this to be done before the next elections". This will require "lobbying, reiterating and repositioning". In the meantime, Achutegui says, "we need men, militant women, because they don't have all the rights, not yet, it can always go backwards. Yes, it's always the same issues, because the same issues are challenged.”
This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.