For those newer to the movement, like Sam Jandl of Boston, who stepped up to help organize Sunday’s event on Boston Common, the connection to others around the country has provided a morale boost as well as practical advice, like which trash bags to buy to protect posters from rain.
“For me, it helps to understand how large a community of people you’re in, people who understand the issue and are willing to put a coat on and commit to coming out,” Ms. Jandl said.
The first Women’s March, which was held in January 2017, the day after Mr. Trump’s inauguration, drew millions of people to the streets of Washington and other cities around the country and the world to protest misogyny and stand up for reproductive and civil rights. The global event saw massive participation again in January 2018, but attendance declined in 2019 after allegations of anti-Semitism among some of its leadership.
The pandemic further limited the ability of the Women’s March to hold events and draw crowds. But since the shock of the Roe decision, organizers said, an infusion of new energy has propelled it forward, with strong showings at events held last May, after the court’s decision leaked and became public, and again in October, to rally support in the run-up to November’s midterm elections.
Organizers narrowed the focus of this year’s January march from a broad slate of feminist causes to the fight for abortion access, branding it “Bigger than Roe” and writing on their website that they are “taking our fight to every state house and every state legislator in this country.”
The marquee event will be held in Madison, Wis., bringing attention to an April special election in the state that could change the composition of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and help determine access to abortion.
Jennifer Knox, a leader at the Working Families Party, who plans to speak during the Madison event, said she believes that people will be motivated in the way that they were after the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter inspired a social justice movement.
