HUNDREDS of marches for abortion rights took place across the United States at the weekend amid fears that the Supreme Court could overturn the federal to terminate pregnancies this summer.

Thousands of people rallied on Saturday at the Washington Monument in the US capital before marching to the Supreme Court, with other marches taking place in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Pittsburgh and scores of other cities. Chants of “Bans off our bodies!” and “My body, my choice” echoed through city centres across the country.

Many speakers urged crowds to vote for pro-choice candidates this autumn.

Los Angeles lawyer Gloria Allread told crowds she had almost died from bleeding after undergoing an illegal back-alley abortion in the 1960s, when she could not have a legal termination despite having been raped at gunpoint.

“I want you to vote as though your lives depend on it, because they do,” she said.

In Chicago, Amy Eshleman, wife of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, warned if abortion rights fell, other rights, such as that to same-sex marriage, would be next. “This has never been just about abortion,” she said. “It’s about control. My marriage is on the menu.”

In Washington, protester Caitlin Loehr told reporters: “I think that women should have the right to choose what to do with their bodies and their lives. And I don’t think banning abortion will stop abortion – it just makes it unsafe and can cost a woman her life.”

If a Mississippi state challenge to the landmark Roe v Wade judgement is upheld by the Supreme Court this summer, as leaked draft rulings suggest it will be, abortion rights will devolve to state level. Around half of all US states either have a ban in place that they would then be able to enforce or are expected to impose one.