First post-Roe March for Life leads to the Capitol in new era

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - The annual anti-abortion rally March for Life took place in Washington, D.C. Friday. It was the first ever event in a post Roe v. Wade America, exactly 50 years after the historic decision. A conservative leaning Supreme Court threw out constitutionally protected reproductive rights last June. The march used to end at the Supreme Court in a symbolic plea to justices to overturn Roe. This year they marched to the U.S. Capitol.

It is an event that typically brings out thousands of students and other leaders pushing an anti-abortion agenda.

“This fight continues because of what’s at stake. I can’t thank you enough for continuing this fight,” said Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) in a speech at the rally.

For some, like Scalise, it was not enough to leave abortion laws up to the states, as last year’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization did. Scalise says Congress should legislate on top of what the Supreme Court decision. House Republicans passed two abortion-related measures last week, almost guaranteed to die in the Senate.

Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R-Miss.) spoke at this year’s rally after leading the charge to dismantle Roe v. Wade.

“Together we lead the way to a society that truly empowers women and promotes life,” said Fitch.

Pro-choice advocates like Angela Vasquez Giroux from the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL) argue Republicans are out of step with the rest of the country.

“They’re really doing us a favor. They’re underlining, once again, how extreme they are. What lengths they’ll go to to make their financial backers happy,” said Vasquez Giroux.

Vasquez Giroux points to the 2022 midterm elections in which Republicans did not see the results they wanted, particularly in races where abortion rights were a key issue. She argues this movement is ignoring the will of the people and moving the country backwards.

“When people are that extreme in their beliefs, the only thing that is going to get through to them is when it hits them personally,” said Vasquez Giroux.

Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, 13 states have banned nearly all abortions. Nearly half of all states have proposed bans, though some are blocked in court.

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