Here are photos of the abortion rights protest in Oakland. It was very poorly publicized. (I didn’t even know about it until I happened to pass by on my way to the protest in San Francisco.) Yet my guess is some 750 were there.

As for political content: The speeches were as to be expected – expressing outrage. But as is almost always the case in all of these rallies, there was no political analysis and, in a way even more important, no suggestion about where to go from here other than “vote, vote, vote”. But in this context that means simply elect more Democrats. Sure, fine, even if you see the Democrats as an alternative, it has to be admitted that that strategy is failing badly And even several of the speakers in effect admitted it: they talked about making Oakland a sanctuary city, or something like that, for out of state women who need but cannot get an abortion in their home state. This means they are admitting defeat in what will probably be over 50% of the states in the country! And we all know where we’re headed: Towards a national law prohibiting abortions!

The move to outlaw abortions is, of course, just part of the attack on women’s rights, which in turn is directly linked to the attack on the rights of people of color, LGBTQ people, and the working class as a whole. Voting Democratic won’t stop it.

The Republican Party represents a minority in the US. However, because of the undemocratic nature of the Supreme Court, the electoral college, the US Senate, and the gerrymandered House of Representatives – meaning the undemocratic nature of the entire US constitution – this minority is coming ever closer to capturing the entire federal government through undemocratic means. (Of course, if you want to talk about the real minority – the US capitalist class – they have always run the government, even through “democratic” means!)

This is what the Democrats cannot and will not prevent. It’s why we need a working class party and why we need socialism.