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Emboldened by recent court rulings, tens of thousands of pro-life activists rallied near the Supreme Court, Friday, with high hopes the Justices might soon overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Friday's 'March for Life' event in Washington, D.C. marked the 49th anniversary of Roe...

"Well, we hope this is the last march."

And many activists said they were praying the 6-3 conservative court would finally side with them.

In December, the Supreme Court signaled its openness to overturning Roe during arguments for a case out of Mississippi.

Conservative justices indicated sympathy for Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban, which violates Roe's precedent... That is - a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy before the fetus is viable, at around 24 weeks.

But according to advocate Rex Teodosio, there is no place for termination:

"We're hoping there will come a day in the United States that the unborn are protected in the womb of their own mothers."

The mood among demonstrators was boosted by recent state abortion restrictions.

"Abortion is suffering a lot of defeats especially the heartbeat bill - the sign of post-Roe generation, the post-Roe America, that's what we're here for. There's been decades when abortion is advancing and now they're just losing."

Several members of the white nationalist group 'Patriot Front' attended Friday's march. Some held shields and lifted a banner that read: "Strong Families Make Strong Nations."

Liberate Abortion - a national coalition of more than 100 abortion rights advocacy groups - said it didn't stage an in-person counter-protest at the march, due to a recent spike of COVID cases... but said it was holding a series of virtual events to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade this week.