WASHINGTON — More than a year after a generational victory for their movement, opponents of abortion rights will gather in the nation’s capital on Friday ahead of a presidential election that could be heavily influenced by abortion politics.
Thousands of protesters are expected on the National Mall for an hour of speeches and a march past the U.S. Capitol and the Supreme Court. But snow and frigid temperatures are gripping the Washington metropolitan area, which could impact turnout for the march.
Friday’s March for Life is the second such event since the June 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended federal protections for abortion rights enshrined in Roe v. Wade. Last year’s march was understandably triumphant, with organizers reveling in a state-to-state battle in legislatures across the country.
That fight rages on, with mixed results. The ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization returned abortion law to the states, and fourteen states now enforce bans on abortion during pregnancy. In two others, such bans have been suspended due to court rulings. And another two have bans that come into effect as soon as heart activity can be detected, about six weeks into pregnancy – often before women know they are pregnant.
But abortion restrictions also lost at the ballot boxes in Ohio, Kansas and Kentucky. And outright bans have led to high-profile reasons why abortion rights supporters have rallied behind them. Kate Cox, a Texas mother of two, sought an abortion after learning the baby she was carrying had a fatal genetic condition. Her request for relief from Texas’ ban, one of the strictest in the country, was denied by the state Supreme Court, and she left Texas to seek an abortion elsewhere.
Organizers of the movement now expect abortion rights to be a key Democratic rallying cry in President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign.
“The pro-abortion forces, that’s one of the biggest things they’re going to push on,” said Susan Swift, president of Pro-Life Legal and a veteran anti-abortion activist. “That’s one of the few things that seems to animate their base.”
Biden campaign officials openly state that they intend to make Biden synonymous with the fight to preserve abortion rights.
Vice President Kamala Harris is leading the White House on this issue. She will hold the first event in Wisconsin on Monday, which would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the court case that led to the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion.
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AP National Writer David Crary contributed to this story.