'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On Saturday, June 25, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot slammed Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the city’s Pride Parade event. Following the US Supreme Court’s overturn of the Roe v Wade ruling from 1973, the US justice had expressed his opinion regarding the reversal of rulings that protect contraception access, same-s*x intercourse, and same-s*x marriage.
Lightfoot, who is a lesbian and the first LGBT black woman to be elected as the Mayor of a United States city, exclaimed how she would not stand by the Supreme Court’s ruling. At the Chicago Pride Event, the Mayor took to the stage and addressed Justice Thomas’ opinions. She told the audience:
“So we know what happened in the Supreme Court yesterday. If you read Clarence Thomas’ concurrence, he said…”
However, she was interrupted by a question from an audience member, following which the 59-year-old Democrat said:
“Thank you. F**k Clarence Thomas!”
With her oration about Thomas, the crowd of the audience present at the event erupted with cheers. In addition to Lori Lightfoot’s comments about Justice Thomas and his opinion regarding past rulings of the Supreme Court, the Chicago Mayor said:
“He thinks that we are going to stand idly by while they take our rights, our right to marry, our right to have children, our right to live!”
Lori Lightfoot received a ton of hate following her comment about Justice Clarence Thomas
After taking a public dig at Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas during her speech on Saturday, a legion of politically charged tweets were aimed at the Mayor.
Many referenced her Beetlejuice meme following her statements. Multiple tweets compared her to the renowned meme, which claims that Lori Lightfoot resembles Michael Keaton’s 1988 film, Beetlejuice.
Lori Lightfoot addresses the overturning of Roe V Wade abortion rights in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA)
Following her addressal to the audience at the Pride Parade event, Lightfoot appeared on Good Morning America, where she was asked about how women would travel to Chicago to get abortions. With the reversal of the 1973 Roe v Wade abortion rights ruling, the right to terminate a pregnancy now lies with the individual state. This allowed around 13 Republican-majority states to ban abortions beyond six weeks or after conception.
Thus, women belonging to a state that banned or restricted abortions would need to travel to a state where the procedure is legal. This means women in need of an abortion will have to travel to cities like Chicago, where they can go through the procedure.
In the interview, Lori Lightfoot said:
“I’m worried about it for the women who are now going to be forced to travel from their home states to cities like Chicago to get the kind of reproductive care that they should have had as a right in their home state. We’ve already seen a surge in the number of people coming after the court upheld the terrible Texas law, and I think that surge is only going to increase in the coming months…”
The Mayor also took to her Twitter on the day of the ruling and mentioned:
“It is a dark day in America. Make no mistake: they are not stopping here, but neither am I. As long as I am Mayor, Chicago will be a safe haven for reproductive healthcare…”
Meanwhile, abortion rights advocates are holding out hope for federal action to protect abortion.
