Abortion rights supporters and opponents took to the streets of the US yesterday, Saturday, to mark the one-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn its historic 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in the whole country.

In Washington, supporters and representatives of American abortion rights groups, including the Women’s March and NARAL Pro-Choice America, gathered in Columbus Circle to celebrate the defeat of some anti-abortion opponents in the 2022 midterm elections and to rally voters. ahead of next year’s presidential and congressional elections.

At the same time, in another part of the American capital, at the Lincoln Memorial, anti-abortion organizations, including Students for Life America, gathered for the “National Day of Life Celebration March”. Former US Vice President Mike Pence, a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was among the speakers.

“We will never rest, we will never back down until we put the sanctity of life back at the center of American law in every state in the country,” Pence said yesterday at a campaign event for Iowa, the state that will vote first for his nomination. Republican candidate for the US presidency.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, a crowd chanted “four more years” as Democratic US Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a speech in support of national abortion rights legislation. A new Republican-backed law goes into effect in North Carolina on July 1. This reduces the legal margin for abortions from 20 weeks of pregnancy which was until now to 12.

“We know that this battle will not truly be won until we secure this right for every American woman, which ultimately means that the US Congress must restore what the Supreme Court took away,” Harris noted, referring to the right to abortion.

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed American women’s right to abortion at the federal level ever since.

After the 2022 decision, it was left to the discretion of the states to legislate on the matter, and about 20 of them subsequently imposed a ban or significant restrictions on abortion. Others instead adopted new guarantees for women’s right to abortion.

This was a decision with “catastrophic” consequences for women’s health, US President Joe Biden complained on Friday.

“My beliefs should not limit your rights” and “my body, my choice” were some of the slogans emblazoned on banners at the pro-abortion rights rally in the federal capital yesterday.

The issue is expected to remain central to the campaign ahead of next year’s US congressional and presidential elections, and activists on both sides used yesterday to mobilize their base for greater political engagement.