US Capitol Police: 17 members of Congress arrested during SCOTUS abortion ruling protest

iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-

Seventeen members of the US Congress were arrested outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, at an abortion rights rally Tuesday.

The Capitol Police tweeted Tuesday that demonstrators were blocking First Street, NE, and that “it is against the law to block traffic.”

The tweet said, “We have already given our standard three warnings. Some of the demonstrators are refusing to get out of the street, so we are starting to make arrests.”

A total of 35 people were arrested, reportedly including members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus.

The 17 members include (in alphabetical order):

• Alma Adams of North Carolina

• Cori Bush of Missouri

• Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark of Massachusetts

• Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania

• Veronica Escobar of Texas

• Sara Jacobs of California

• Barbara Lee of California

• Andy Levin of Michigan

• Carolyn Maloney of New York

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York

• Ilhan Omar of Minnesota

• Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts

• Jan Schakowsky of Illinois

• Jackie Speier of California

• Rashida Tlaib of Michigan

• Nydia Velazquez of New York

• Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey

The demonstration came more than three weeks after the US Supreme Court struck down landmark Roe v. Wade judgment, which eliminated the constitutional protection of abortion rights for women.

Abortion has been one of the most divisive issues in the US, with the ruling further splitting the nation.

Without Roe v. Wade, states are allowed to impose their own legislation on the medical procedure.

Last week, the US House of Representatives passed a pair of bills aimed at protecting access to abortion but they face little chance of clearing the evenly-divided Senate.