Thousands of anti-abortion activists braved the wintry weather to rally in Washington D.C. on Friday, Jan. 19.

More than 18 months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the national right to abortion, 14 states have passed full bans on abortion. Two states – Georgia and South Carolina – have bans at six-weeks of pregnancy when a heartbeat can be detected by medical devices, but often before a woman even knows she’s pregnant.

Despite passing bans, a few states continue to allow abortions while legal challenges to the bans go through the courts.

For pro-life marchers, the victory in the highest court in the U.S. in June 2022 was cause for celebration during last year’s march, but in 2024 they are eying states like Ohio, Kentucky, and Kansas where recent ballot initiatives securing bans on abortion have failed.

Not present at the march were those who support abortion rights. A Wall Street Journal-NORC poll in November 2023 showed that 55 percent of respondents say it should be possible for a pregnant woman to obtain a legal abortion if she wants it for any reason. A Harvard University poll in December 2023 also found that this aged 18-29 were twice as likely to say they were “pro-choice” than “pro-life”.

Since the Supreme Court ruling, 10 states have passed laws that further protects abortion rights.

Abortion is one of, if not the most, divisive issue in the U.S., and could very likely determine the outcome of the 2024 elections.

In Nov. 2023, voters in swing state Ohio passed the right to abortion as protected by the state constitution by 57% to 43%. In Kentucky, voters rejected a ballot measure that would deny constitutional protections for abortion 52% to 48%.