Governor Sam Brownback has urged abortion opponents outside the Kansas Statehouse to “keep marching” and “keep moving.”

Hundreds rallied with Brownback and anti-abortion legislators on the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.

The governor told them, “There’s joy in what you’re doing and keep it up.”

Many in the anti-abortion movement are looking to Kansas, where Brownback signed a series of tough anti-abortion measures during his first two years in office. Other states with GOP governors and Republican-controlled legislatures have taken similar steps.

The group Kansans for Life plans to ask lawmakers to enact legislation ensuring the state doesn’t finance abortions even indirectly through tax breaks.

Democratic state Representative Emily Perry of Mission says she supports abortion rights and wishes the same effort being put into narrowing Roe v. Wade was put into school funding or the state budget.