Busy Philipps Arrested for Protesting Outside Supreme Court After Roe v. Wade Ruling

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Al Drago/getty

Busy Philippshas had a brush with the law in her fight for reproductive rights.

TheCougar Townalum, 43, was arrested on Thursday for blocking traffic outside the United States Supreme Court with a group of Planned Parenthood leaders and activists a week after theSCOTUS decision to overturn 1973’s Roe v. Wadeand the constitutional right to abortion.

The United States Capitol Police did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Philipps also sharedphotos and videofrom the demonstration and her subsequent arrest on Instagram.

In her lengthy post, she wrote that she “was proud to stand today” alongside her fellow protesters, which included the Working Family’s Party, Poor People’s Campaign, Catholics for Choice, The National Council of Jewish Women, mi Familia Vota, the Center For Popular Democracy Action and NARAL for the sit-in.

“I can think of no better way to use my privilege and voice than to amplify the message that bodily autonomy IS a human right, as it is ACTUALLY the exact same thing as the promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” she added. “We must ensure that it applies to all of us. This is the fight of a lifetime, y’all. It’s not gonna be short, easy or without setbacks. But we must MUST MUST keep showing up and taking action. YOU must. I promise I will.”

Philipps, whohas been open about her own abortionat age 15, told her 2.3 million followers in a video on her Instagram Story: “I’m doing this for you guys. I’m doing this for my kids, I’m doing this for my mom, I’m doing this for my grandma.”

Also arrested at the demonstration wasOrange Is the New BlackactressAlysia Reiner, whose rep did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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The protest came as PresidentJoe Bidendoubled down on his pro-choice support, announcing from a press conference in Madrid that hewill have news to shareafter meeting with some governors on Friday.

“The most important thing to be clear about is I believe we have to codifyRoe v. Wadein the law,” he said firmly. “The way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that, and if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights – it should be [that] we provide an exception to this … requiring an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision.”

RELATED VIDEO: Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, Eliminating the Constitutional Right to Abortion

Last Friday’s6-to-3 rulingreversed nearly 50 years of precedent, giving states the power to pass their own laws around abortion. Since the decision, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri and South Dakota have alreadybanned abortion in their states, afterputting “trigger bans” in placethat governors enacted after the SCOTUS ruling.

source: people.com