Thousands of people took to the streets in the Southland on Saturday as part of a nationwide effort to protect abortion rights in the aftermath of a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overruling the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision.

       In L.A., activists demonstrated near City Hall in downtown Los Angeles, joining hundreds of women’s rights rallies across the state and the U.S. Protesters also gathered in Long Beach, Pasadena, Sherman Oaks, Palos Verdes and Santa Ana as well as San Francisco, San Diego, Washington, New York, Chicago and Austin, Texas.

       Los Angeles Participants at an abortion rights rally Saturday in downtown Los Angeles outside City Hall carry signs that read, “I’m with her” and “Bans off our bodies.”

       (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

       Women’s abortion rights rally takes place downtown in front of City Hall on Saturday, May 14, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA.

       (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

       Jean English, 67, lets her sign — “Fighting for 50 years. We won’t go back.” — speak for her at an abortion rights rally in front of L.A. City Hall downtown.

       (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

       A packed crowd with participants holding signs at an abortion rights rally downtown in front of Los Angeles City Hall on Saturday.

       (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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       Carrie Worthen, 55, wearing a symbolic hanger around her neck, jots down her support for abortion rights on a banner at a rally Saturday in downtown Los Angeles.

       (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

       Washington Abortion rights activists march up Constitution Avenue near the U.S. Capitol during a “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally in Washington on Saturday.

       (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

       Antiabortion activists and abortion rights supporters shout at one another during the “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally Saturday in Washington.

       (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

       Hangers are seen on a barricade as abortion rights activists participate in a “Bans Off Our Bodies” rally and march to the Supreme Court on Saturday in Washington.

       (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

       A demonstrator puts signs back up on barricades after Capitol Police officers took them down.

       (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)