Abortion rights advocates march across U.S. to protest restrictive laws

Women's rights advocates will join 660 marches planned around the United States on Saturday to protest against recent efforts to restrict abortion access, including a new Texas law that bans abortions after about six weeks.

In Washington, D.C., protesters will march to the U.S. Supreme Court two days before the court reconvenes for a session in which the justices will consider a Mississippi case that could enable them to overturn abortion rights established in the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case. Appointments of justices by former president Donald Trump have strengthened conservative control of the high court.

In a 5-4 decision on Sept. 1, the justices denied a request from abortion and women's health providers to block enforcement of the near-total ban in Texas, the strictest such law in the country.

"This is kind of a break-glass moment for folks all across the country," said Rachel O'Leary Carmona, executive director of Women's March, the main organizer of Saturday's demonstrations.

"Many of us grew up with the idea that abortion would be legal and accessible for all of us, and seeing that at very real risk has been a moment of awakening," she said.

The march is part of "a fight to secure, safeguard, and strengthen our constitutional right to an abortion … And it's a fight against the Supreme Court justices, state lawmakers, and senators who aren't on our side — or aren't acting with the urgency this moment demands."

Carmona said the number of marches scheduled for Saturday is second only to the group's first protest, which mobilized millions of people around the world to rally against Trump the day after his inauguration in 2017.