'We won't go back': Seattle joins nationwide abortion ban protests

Abortion rights supporters packed Seattle City Hall Plaza Tuesday as part of a nationwide protest of recently passed abortion bans in a handful of states.

The protest filled the courtyard and poured out onto the sidewalk. Women wore pink pussyhats and carried signs from the Womxn’s Marches.

Lisa Brown was one of four who wore red robes and a white hood from the TV show "The Handmaid's Tale."

“I had an abortion in 1979 when I was 17, and I'm so glad I had that option,” Brown said.

Women expressed anger, saying they felt they’ve been fighting the same battle for decades.

"I'm old enough to remember when abortion was illegal,” said Deborah Higdon, one of the first to arrive at the protest. “I think a lot of people have forgotten what it was really like when women really didn't have choice."

Higdon carried a sign that read, ‘Defend a woman's right to control her own body. Hands off.’

Julie Erlemeier was with her friends, just a few of the younger women who made up most of the crowd.

"It's not just an attack on women, it's an attack on humans and human rights. And so that's why I'm here, “ Erlemeirer said, “I'm here to support all women in any aspect of their life, to just be able to take control of who they are."

Dr. Rebecca Taub stood out in the crowd wearing a white lab coat.

Taub is an OBGYN at UW Medicine. "We have such good science to show that abortion is safe, abortion is necessary, abortion is health care,” Taub said, “A woman's decision with what to do with her pregnancy is a decision between them and their doctor."

Washington law guarantees the right to an abortion, even if Roe vs. Wade was overturned.

Even so, Deborah Higdon said she rallied in solidarity for people living in Alabama or Missouri.

“All of us who believe in a woman’s right to be fully active in society and live as a free human being just as men do,” said Higdon.

The crowd rallied for expanded affordable health care including abortion funds for women in need.

About half a dozen police were on hand but there were no counter protests.