Hundreds march on Minnesota Capitol to protest abortion, oppose PRO Act
Hundreds of protestors marched at the state Capitol Sunday in St. Paul on the 50th anniversary of the legalization of abortion, asking state lawmakers to vote against a law protecting abortion rights in Minnesota.
Organizers said the gathering was to “commemorate the enormous harm of abortion.”
The annual March For Life by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life took place days after the house approved a bill called the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act, guaranteeing the right of abortion in the state. Protestors called on elected officials to vote against the bill when the senate votes on it next.
The PRO Act also includes protections for contraception, maternity care, sterilization, fertility services and counseling about reproductive health care. Abortion is already legal in Minnesota, protected by a 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court decision.
The bill’s intent is to codify the right to abortion and other reproductive care, in case the Minnesota Supreme Court would try to overturn the decision, as the U.S. Supreme Court did in issuing the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“Babies in Minnesota receive no protection in their mother’s wombs,” MCCL Co-Executive Director Cathy Blaeser said at the rally. “But that’s not enough for Gov. Walz and pro-abortion legislators. Now they want to enshrine into our Minnesota laws a complete and unfettered right to abort any baby at any time, right up to the moment of birth.”
The MCCL March for Life has been held each year since 1974, the first anniversary of Roe vs Wade.
