National Women's March: Rallying Against Deadly Abortion Restrictions

National Women's March: Rallying Against Deadly Abortion Restrictions
photo by Chadwick Fowler

On January 21, thousands of abortion rights supporters gathered near the Arizona Capitol for the annual National Women’s March. The Bigger Than Roe rally, which took place in Phoenix only two days before Roe v. Wade's anniversary, was bursting with the presence of passionate Latinas speaking up for abortion rights.


Considering that 42.9% of Phoenix’s population is Hispanic, their presence is important to drive the Women’s March mission forward. To reaffirm its commitment to reproductive freedom for all, the Bigger Than Roe campaign challenged politicians at all levels.

The movement goes beyond Roe v. Wade’s overturn because it concerns the rights and freedoms everyone deserves. The Women’s March, as a women-led movement, seeks to not only provide intersectional advocacy but also leverage the political power of diverse women and the communities they’re a part of. The strategic rally in Phoenix sought to light a fire in the hearts of voters and drive them to take action in the 2024 elections.

photo by Chadwick Fowler

Hosted by Elyssa Bustamante, known as The Funky Latina, the Women’s March saw a variety of speakers, half of them Latina women lending their strength to the fight for reproductive rights.

The speaker line-up included women like Rachel Carmona, Executive Director of Women’s March; Gloria Allred, Attorney, and Reproductive Rights Activist; Dr. DeShawn Taylor, Abortion Provider, Desert Star Institute for Family Planning; Celina Martinez, Community Organizer, Healthcare Rising Arizona; Analise Ortiz, State Representative District 24; Anna Hernandez, State Senator District 24, and many more.

All of these Latine voices spoke up in favor of the Arizona Abortion Access Act, a proposed constitutional amendment that will be on the November 2024 ballot if enough voter signatures are collected. The proposed amendment aims to allow abortions before viability. Fetal viability varies from person to person and also by the medical resources that are offered in their community but is generally estimated to be at around 24 weeks of pregnancy.

The ballot requires a minimum of 383,923 valid Arizona voter signatures by July 3, and organizers are aiming to collect 500,000 signatures to go above and beyond. The initiative has already collected over 300,000 ballot signatures, and the rally was a successful effort to raise awareness. Despite the overcast weather, an estimated 2,500 people showed up to participate and express concerns about the recent abortion restrictions in Arizona and nationally.

photograph of the National Women's March held in Phoenix January 2024photo by Chadwick Fowler

Among those people was Bobby Nichols, the chair of Arizona Works Together, another organization supporting the Arizona Abortion Access Act. While Arizona Works Together has collaborated indirectly with the Women’s March, they wanted to be present to show how important collaboration is when there’s such an important common goal at hand.

The rally also served as a safe space to share and connect as a community. Women shared their motivations and personal experiences with abortion on stage, through chants, and on their protest signs. Women of all ages, including children, senior citizens, and men, marched for themselves and the women in their families and rallied the community to vote. They collectively made the argument that the battle is at the ballot box, and it’s in the hands of the community to make a change.

The Latine community, in particular, is an essential part of winning that ballot, and this rally proved that they’re very involved in the efforts. The presence of Latinas, not only as speakers in the rally but also as participants, was overwhelming. They came together with a clear mission: to inspire other Latinas to vote for a better future.

photograph of the National Women's March held in Phoenix January 2024photo by Chadwick Fowler

The sentiment that dominated the Arizona Capitol during the National Women’s March was one of commitment and resilience. The Latine community is no stranger to fighting for their rights, and they showed up to defend women’s body autonomy and inspire the community to do the same.

As the 2024 elections draw closer, everyone’s efforts are ramping up. From this Women’s March alone, it’s clear that abortion rights are relevant to all and is an issue that inspires action. The conservative wing of the United States Supreme Court and the Republican party are clearly at odds with the majority of Americans. Ballot measures protecting abortions are continuously winning - even in Republican-majority states.

In a state where nearly half of the population is Latino, this community is raising their collective voice and making headway for themselves and future generations.

This Viral Video Game Is Changing the Face of Voter Outreach

In 2024, voting campaigns have evolved greatly, to say the least. Creativity is now the name of the game and tongue-in-cheek humor is expertly leveraged to drive action. One example of that is Bop the Bigot, a revival of a viral game created in 2016 by Bazta Arpaio, an Arizona activist group, as part of a campaign to unseat Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio lost his re-election to Paul Penzone that year.

The game has now been updated for the current election cycle and relaunched by On Point Studios, with new features added to enable players to find out what’s on their ballot, confirm voter status, and register to vote.

Much like its former 2016 version, the game allows users to take out their political frustrations by virtually “bopping” GOP candidates in the head. It’s very similar to whack-a-mole, except the mole is replaced by former President Donald Trump, Ohio’s Senator J. D. Vance, and Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation, which is spearheading Project 2025.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

B. Loewe, Director of On Point Studios, came up with the concept for this game when working as the Communications Director at Bazta Arpaio in 2016, and is the executive producer of this revamped version. In the first version of the game, Bop the Bigot players used a chancla (flip flop) to “bop” the characters, tapping into Latino culture by leaning on the childhood experience of being set right by a flying chancla from a fed-up mother or grandmother.

This year, the chancla is replaced by a more current element, a green coconut, referencing Kamala Harris’ coconut tree meme. There are also side characters like “the couch,” cat ladies, and more coconuts. All references to jokes about Vice-Presidential candidate Vance, or insults Vance has made about women on the campaign trail.

Another new addition is that Harris’ laugh is immortalized as the game-over sound effect, an unexpected detail that adds even more humor and levity to the game.

cartoon renditions of Donald Trump, Kevin Roberts, and J.D. Vance around a Bop the Bigot logoPromotional image provided by On Point Studios.

Bop the Bigot, which is playable on desktop and mobile, is intended not just as a way to vent political frustrations, but also as a tool for activism and securing voter engagement.

For example, the game supports the work of Mexican Neidi Dominguez Zamorano, Founding Executive Director of the non-profit organization Organized Power in Numbers by using the “game over” screen to prompt players to donate to it and support their efforts.

Organized Power in Numbers is focused on empowering workers in the South and Southwest of the U.S. through collective action and comprehensive campaigns. Their mission is to create a large-scale movement that challenges the status quo and advocates for workers' rights, and racial and economic justice.

Currently, Dominguez Zamorano is leading worker outreach to 2 million working-class voters in the South and Southwest through doorknocking, texting, and calls with the help of local groups in North Carolina, Arizona, New Mexico, and more.

“We have been blown away by the enthusiastic reception for the video game. We knew we wanted to be part of its creative approach because our movement needs more fun and laughter. We need more ways to connect with nuestra gente so we can feel joy among all the absurdity we witness every day,” Dominguez Zamorano shared with Luz Media via email.

“Our people are gente trabajadora and we deserve to feel uplifted even in our toughest moments. We are deeply involved in the South and Southwest so we know what’s at stake in this election and we’re happy this can be a resource to mobilize, raise spirits, and get out the vote," she concluded.

Dominguez Zamorano is a committed activist for immigrants and workers' rights, known for her strategist skills and expertise. She played a key role in the campaign to win DACA and has also held roles in major campaigns, including as Deputy National States Director for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. In addition to her work with Organized Power in Numbers, Dominguez Zamorano is serving as a Senior Advisor to Mijente’s Fuera Trump Initiative.

Grassroots efforts like these have taken on new life in 2024, with Bop the Bigot adding to the larger, ongoing fight against political apathy and disinformation. Just as it did during the 2016 race, the video game uses humor to soften the serious task at hand—getting people to the polls.

"We want the game to be a fun and comical outlet for anyone who’s been insulted, frustrated, or harmed by Trump in the past and everyone who is ready to move forward as a country after election day," explained Loewe in a press release. "The proposals in Project 2025 and the beliefs of Trump and Vance aren’t just weird, they’re truly harmful. We wanted to give people a humorous and peaceful way to smack down their racism and sexism. We hope it makes people laugh and also feel empowered and motivated to get to the polls on or before election day."

With a mix of satire, sharp political critique, and nostalgia, the game is a call to action. The upcoming election, which is getting closer by the minute, has sparked fierce activism and creative yet grounded initiatives like these aim to ensure voters are engaged, especially young Latinos and disenfranchised groups.

hands holding up yellow protest signs that say Hands Off Our Bodies
Photo Credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash

Originally published in Common Dreams. Reprinted with permission.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

In November, abortion rights measures will appear on ballots across ten states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and New York, where Latinos make up a significant portion of the electorate. For decades, pundits and politicians have recycled long-held misconceptions about Latino voters and abortion access, citing our conservative and religious beliefs.

Anti-abortion extremists have long fueled these misconceptions through misinformation and disinformation campaigns targeting Latino communities with egregious lies and inflammatory rhetoric about abortion. Yet, polling, focus groups, and direct interactions with Latino communities have debunked these outdated tropes.

The Latino electorate will prove decisive in securing reproductive freedom and abortion access through ballot measures around the country, particularly in states where Latinos are a significant portion of the electorate.

For Latinos, the freedom to decide, a pillar of our American democracy, is critical. Meanwhile, Latinos are being hit directly with anti-abortion efforts that take away that freedom such as the six-week abortion ban put into effect by the Florida Supreme Court and the 1864 abortion ban upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, people of color and Latinas have felt the impact of a lack of abortion access, an element of basic healthcare.

A 2023 report by the National Partnership for Women and Families estimated that nearly 6.5 million Latinas, or 42% of all Latinas of reproductive age in the country, live in a state that either had or was likely to ban abortion. Ironically, it will be abortion access and anti-choice efforts to restrict freedom of choice that will mobilize Latino voters this election.

In a poll conducted by three national reproductive justice organizations, 87% of Latinas named abortion and women’s rights as one of their top priorities as they head to the polls. Another battleground poll conducted by Somos PAC and BSP Research found that 61% of Latino registered voters expressed a more positive/favorable view of Kamala Harris after hearing that she will protect abortion rights, versus only 19% of Latinos who said they had a more negative view of Harris after hearing that.

In key states to secure the White House and both chambers, Latinos make up large chunks of the electorate: Arizona (25%), Colorado (15%), Florida (20%), Nevada (20%), and New York (12%). In the face of unprecedented attacks on basic healthcare access and targeted attempts by extremists to mislead and divide our community on this issue, this November Latinos will be key deciders on abortion access across the country.

Mari Urbina, Managing Director of Indivisible, Battleground Arizona Lead and former Harry Reid advisor.

Héctor Sánchez Barba is president and CEO of Mi Familia Vota (MFV).