As temperatures inched toward freezing on Saturday afternoon, people in knit caps and raincoats gathered for the Texas Rally for Life in Austin, holding signs that read "Let Life Live" and "Pray to End Abortion." While turnout appeared lower than in previous years, the annual event still drew a crowd as elected officials, activists and clergy members stood on the Texas Capitol steps to cheer the anti-abortion movement's gains in the state.
"I think I've been at this event pretty much every year that I've been governor. Never have I seen a weather challenge like this," Gov. Greg Abbott said to the crowd. "But I'm so proud and heartened to see that it's not dampened your spirit."
Similar events happen across the country each year around the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade. For decades, these rallies brought together members of a movement that hoped to see that decision reversed. In 2022, it was, and the federal right to abortion ended.
Now, events like the Texas Rally for Life celebrate the anti-abortion movement's political successes. Over the past five years, the state has instituted multiple overlapping abortion bans and pioneered a new civil enforcement mechanism for cracking down on those who "aid or abet" abortion seekers.
"Because of your decades of advocating for life, abortion is not legal in our state," Abbott said Saturday.
The governor also touted bills passed during last year's state legislative session, including a new law that aims to penalize the practice of out-of-state doctors providing abortion pills to women in Texas and a statute that prevents local governments from using taxpayer money to support travel and logistics for women seeking abortions.
Yet speakers on Saturday said there is more they hope to do. Amy O'Donnell, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life, emphasized her organization's support for efforts to curb the use of abortion medications, citing studies that show the number of abortions has gone up nationally since Roe was overturned.
"Make no mistake: our work is far from complete," O'Donnell said. "Dobbs was the turning of a page, not the end of a story."
Separately, groups that advocate for abortion access spoke out on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision this year, including the State Abortion Access Network, a coalition of reproductive rights organizations from states including Texas.
"Roe was the bare minimum. Our fight is to create a culture and country where abortion is safe, legal, accessible and de-stigmatized," members of the network wrote in a statement. "Together, our state organizations will fight against any state and federal restriction that steals autonomy over our bodies."
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