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Pro-life rally returns to DC as abortion rights take center stage

The Supreme Court is set to deliver a decision in June that could overturn Roe v. Wade or render it ineffective.

WASHINGTON — Thousands are heading to D.C. Friday for the annual March for Life, as abortion rights hang by an increasingly tenuous thread.

This year, it's in-person, after the pandemic forced organizers to move it virtual last year.

The website lists this year's theme as "Equality Begins in the Womb," with the president, Jeanne Mancini, writing, “As our country continues to advance along the path to a more just society, we cannot ignore the discrimination that is taking place against vulnerable unborn babies who some view as “less than” others. In order to create a more just society, we must recognize that equality begins in the womb.” 

RELATED: LIST: Traffic closures, restrictions for March for Life rally in DC

The Supreme Court is expected to deliver a decision in June about a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks.

The decision could either overturn Roe v. Wade, which has protected a woman's right to have an abortion for decades, or render it ineffective.

“We’re moving toward a society where we’re forcing people to give birth," one pro-choice supporter said at a rally in December.

That month, the Supreme Court decided that a Texas law banning abortions after six weeks could stand.

RELATED: Supreme Court won't stop Texas abortion ban, but OKs clinics' lawsuit

After decades, pro-life supporters may soon have another big win.

It all rests in the hands of the Supreme Court, which had previously struck down a similar Mississippi law.

“There’s always someone that gets hurt with abortion. It ends a life," one pro-life supporter said at a protest in October.

At least 26 states are certain or likely to ban abortions if the court overturns Roe v. Wade, according to reproductive rights research group The Guttmacher Institute.

The rally begins at noon on the National Mall, and the march will start at 1 p.m., when participants will head to the Supreme Court.

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