Nation's largest abortion protest could be last under Roe

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The largest anti-abortion rally in the U.S. returns Friday with thousands of expected protesters in Washington who feel within reach of their goal for the last 49 years: a sweeping rollback of abortion rights.

“My hopes have been dashed many times, but I have never felt like this," said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life.

The March for Life, for decades an annual protest against abortion, arrives this year as the Supreme Court has indicated it will allow states to impose tighter restrictions on abortion with a ruling in the coming months — and possibly overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that affirmed the constitutional right to an abortion.

The rally, held on the anniversary of the Roe decision, is taking place in amid a COVID-19 surge that is expected to limit turnout at the National Mall. Some abortion opponents posted on the event's Facebook page that they will not attend because of COVID-19 vaccine mandates for people going to restaurants and other places in the District of Columbia.

The pandemic has not dampened the optimism of a resurgent anti-abortion movement that sees a new Texas law banning most abortions as a sign of things to come, and who say they are not done fighting for restrictions even if the Supreme Court's conservative majority rules in their favor later this year.

At least 26 states are in line to further limit abortion access if Roe is weakened or overturned, according to abortion rights groups. In December, the court indicated in a major case that it would uphold a Mississippi ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and allow states to ban abortion even earlier. The Mississippi case directly challenges Roe.

Tanya Britton, a former president of Pro-Life Mississippi, said she is...