AUSTIN, Texas—More than 100 people attended a spirited march and rally at the state capitol here May 29 to protest recent state government restrictions on the right to abortion. Many passing cars honked in support.

On May 19 Texas governor Richard Perry signed into law a measure requiring a woman who seeks an abortion to get a sonogram and wait 24 hours before she can have the procedure. The doctor is required to describe the fetus to the woman and offer her the option of listening to the heartbeat.

Sarah Downing, 19, president of the Feminist Majority Alliance at the University of North Texas in Denton, said her group came because “in this climate, the right to abortion needs to be defended.”

As she saw the march go by, Carrejo Smith, 22, joined in. Smith said the question of the right to abortion “is near and dear to my heart.” Having grown up in rural southern Indiana where there are no abortion providers, she has been bothered by the increasing erosion of a woman’s right to choose.

—ANGEL LARISCY