Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez among members of Congress arrested at pro-choice protest

Several prominent Democratic members of Congress were arrested on Tuesday during a protest in support of abortion rights in front of the US supreme court in the aftermath of the historic overturning of Roe v Wade last month.

The politicians gathered in front of the US Capitol before marching to the court building, in Washington DC, chanting “our bodies, our choice” and “we won’t go back”.

The group, which included representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush, proceeded to stand along a pedestrian crossing area, in front of the supreme court building, which is surrounded by a large black fence, erected to keep protesters away.

The women sat down in the middle of the street as an act of peaceful civil disobedience, as a group of police officers gathered around them, broadcasting a pre-recorded message announcing imminent arrest for blocking the street.

The officers then began to arrest the lawmakers, cuffing them and leading them to a yellow-taped area away from the street.

A livestream of the protest was posted online by CPD Action, the protest-focussed arm of the Center for Popular Democracy, a social justice organisation, which coordinated the action.

In a statement, representative Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York who was arrested, said: “I have the privilege of representing a state where reproductive rights are respected and protected – the least I can do is put my body on the line for the 33 million women at risk of losing their rights.”

Jackie Speier, a representative from California who was also arrested, said on Twitter: “Proud to march with my Democratic colleagues and get arrested for women’s rights, abortion rights, the rights for people to control their own bodies and the future and our democracy.”

It has been less than a month since the supreme court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, which protected the right to an abortion under the US constitution. After the ruling, abortion was banned or is under threat of being banned in 60 per cent of states.

US president Joe Biden has announced and the House of Representatives has since passed bills offering federal protections – but these are largely symbolic as long as the Senate is all but certain to reject such legislation, and as the individual states now have the right to dictate abortion regulation.