WASHINGTON – A year ago, the annual March for Life protest against legal abortion took place in Washington mood of undisguised triumph. With a new Conservative majority in the Supreme Court, thousands of protesters braved the bitterly cold weather to protest the seemingly inevitable case of Roe v. to celebrate Wade.
Now, with the constitutional right to abortion no longer rule the country, the March for Life returns on Friday with a new focus. Instead of turning their attention to the Supreme Court, protesters plan to target the building directly across the street: the US Capitol.
Leaders of the movement say they plan to warn Congress against any attempt to curtail the numerous anti-abortion laws passed in a dozen different states last year.
“This year will be a somber reminder of the millions of lives lost to abortion over the past 50 years, but also a celebration of how far we’ve come and where we as a movement must focus our efforts as we move into this one.” We are entering a new era in our quest to protect life,” Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, said in a statement.
Some leaders of the movement are also hoping to sow seeds in Congress for a possible federal abortion restriction across the board. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, said she envisions an eventual “minimum federal standard” limit such as 13 weeks gestation, after which abortion would not be legal in any state. Dannenfelser’s scenario would still leave individual states free to impose their own stricter measures, including a total ban.
This latest ambition is admittedly a long shot, because even if it passed the newly Republican-controlled House of Representatives, it would most likely fail in the Democrat-held Senate.
“We know it won’t happen in this session, but this is the start,” said Dannenfelser. “It is the responsibility of Congress to listen to the will of the people.”
In permit applications to the National Park Service, organizers of the protests estimated 50,000 participants this year, about the same number as previous marches.
In the absence of federal protection from Roe v. Wade has abortion rights become one Patchwork quilt from state to state.
Since June, near-total abortion bans have been imposed in Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Legal action is pending against several of these bans.
Elective abortions are also unavailable in Wisconsin due to legal uncertainties faced by abortion clinics, and in North Dakota, where the only clinic has moved to Minnesota.
Bans enacted by state legislators in Ohio, Indiana and Wyoming have been blocked by state courts while legal challenges are pending. And in South Carolina, the state Supreme Court on January 5 overturned an abortion ban after six weeks, ruling that the restriction violated a state’s constitutional right to privacy.
But other states have experienced an unexpected setback on the matter. Voters in Kansas and Kentucky rejected constitutional amendments that would have declared abortion illegal; Michigan voters approved an amendment that enshrines abortion rights in the state constitution.
President Joe Biden’s administration has limited options following the Supreme Court decision. Vice President Kamala Harris should give a speech in Florida on Sunday the 50th anniversary of the original Roe v. Wade ruling to emphasize that abortion rights remain a key government concern.
“The vice president will make it very clear that the fight to secure women’s fundamental right to reproductive health care is far from over,” said Harris spokeswoman Kirsten Allen. “It will chart the fallout from extremist attacks on reproductive freedom in states across our country and underscore the need for Congress to codify Roe.”
According to Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey In July, 53% of US adults said they disapproved of the Supreme Court’s repeal of Roe, while 30% agreed.
Dannenfelser disputes those numbers, saying that while blanket abortion bans are a contentious issue among voters, limited restrictions like a ban after the first trimester of pregnancy are “very popular” in both red and blue states.
Anti-abortion activists are also eyeing the upcoming 2024 presidential election, essentially screening potential candidates for their views on the issue. Dannenfelser said she recently met with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential leading Republican candidate, and came away “incredibly impressed,” but said it was too early for her organization to endorse anyone.
She predicted there will be some “fault lines” among Republican presidential candidates regarding abortion rights and protections, but cautioned that any candidate deemed soft on the issue “disqualifies himself as a presidential candidate in our eyes.” have and will have otherwise, he has very little chance of winning the nomination.”
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David Crary contributed from New York City.
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