Part of it was the sentiment that it was just a settled issue. A lot of people believed that Roe would never really go away and that's not as naive as it may seem. It was not good strategy for the Republicans to go after it now and its been causing them some extra headaches so the smart money was honestly on Roe not being significantly challenged.

Another part was the understanding that Roe v. Wade did actually rest on some shaky legal ground and it had been a big promise of the Obama and Biden administrations to codify Roe into law specifically to avoid this exact thing happening.

Another component is most people who would be upset enough to stage huge protests are people who live in places where their right to reproductive healthcare is guaranteed by the state independent of the federal laws so even if Roe goes away, people in those places aren't going to face the possibility of not being able to engage with their reproductive healthcare services. Personal proximity matters for a lot of issues.

Another factor is people are protesting by just moving. It's hard to pin down an exact statistic on the shift because the data is so noisy but, by and large, a significant number of people who care about reproductive issues are simply relocating to states where that's less of a concern. It's not the only reason they're moving but it's often a big part of why.

Another component is the administration. This was seen as a move pulled by the courts first and foremost, something the current administration doesn't really have a lot of control over. Had this happened during Trump's tenure, you'd likely have seen huge protests because it would have been blamed more directly on Trump. As is, people have kind of...forgotten or ignored the fact that Biden promised to codify Roe and did not do that.

It seems a little strange that there wouldn't be bigger pushback but once you unpack the issue it makes sense. The conditions just aren't right for a huge protest. That could shift dramatically if Trump wins and there's some kind of federal legislation that restricts access to abortion even in states where it's currently guaranteed access.