Abortion opponents push post-Roe agenda at annual Washington march
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[January 20, 2023]
By Gabriella Borter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of abortion opponents plan to rally in
Washington on Friday for the 50th annual "March for Life," marking a new
chapter for a movement that has organized for decades around a
overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that recognized a women's
right to an abortion.
With that goal now accomplished after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out
Roe's precedent and gutted federal abortion rights last June, the
leaders of March For Life hope to galvanize support for state and
federal legislation placing further limits on abortion.
"It's a moment to stop and to reflect upon all that's happened in the
course of the last 50 years leading up to this year, but also to think
about what are the next steps," March for Life President Jeanne Mancini
said. "We have our work cut out for us."
Since the end of Roe on June 24, 2022, 12 states have enforced total
abortion bans with limited exceptions and abortion is unavailable in two
additional states, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive
rights research and advocacy organization.
March for Life plans to quickly ramp up its initiative that promotes
marches across different states, which started with the first official
state "March for Life" in Virginia in 2019. In 2023, the organization
aims to hold 10 state marches, including in Arizona, Virginia,
California and Connecticut, and Mancini hopes they will reach all 50
states within the next 10 years.
Among the states where Mancini would like to see the march movement
expand next are those where the anti-abortion movement has suffered
recent defeats, such as Michigan, she said. Michigan voters approved a
state constitutional amendment last November to enshrine abortion
rights.
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Women's March demonstrators shout
outside the White House in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's
decision to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade abortion decision in
Washington, D.C., U.S., July 9, 2022. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
This year's national march will take
place two days before Jan. 22, which would have been the 50th
anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.
Abortion rights advocates were marking the occasion
by reflecting on the enormous disruption in reproductive healthcare
that the United States has witnessed over the last year, and calling
for more legislation to protect abortion rights at the state and
national level.
"On what would have been Roe’s 50th anniversary, we are instead
facing the deepest crisis in abortion access in 50 years," said
Herminia Palacio, president of the Guttmacher Institute.
Friday's "March for Life" will start on the National Mall at noon
and feature a lineup of speakers, including U.S. House Majority
Leader Steve Scalise and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch,
who won the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that
prompted the Supreme Court to overturn Roe.
Then rally-goers will march along a slightly different route than
usual in a nod to their Supreme Court victory, passing in front of
the Capitol instead of heading directly to the high court, which
they previously did to make their case for Roe's overturn.
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; additional reporting by Temis Tormo;
Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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