Thousands Attend 50th Annual March for Life at Minnesota State Capitol Sunday

(KNSI) — Pro-life advocates from across Minnesota gathered at the State Capitol on Sunday on the 50th Anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision. Sunday’s march was also the first since the Supreme Court overturned that decision in June.

The event began with a special Mass for Life inside a packed Cathedral of St. Paul, where Archbishop Bernard Hebda thanked those in attendance for their advocacy for women and the unborn. Several hundred people marched from the Cathedral down to and around the State Capitol before a rally sponsored by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life.

Speakers in attendance pleaded with state Senators to say no to the Protect Reproductive Options Act, passed by the House Thursday night and begged lawmakers to say no to other bills introduced in committee. Those are more extreme measures, including House File 91 and Senate File 70, which would strip away what abortion advocates call “restrictions” to abortion access, including a 24-hour waiting period, parental notification for a minor seeking an abortion, the reporting requirement for women injured or killed during an abortion, the Born Alive Infant Act, which would remove the requirement that a baby born alive during an abortion attempt be considered a human being and the requirement for life-saving measures to be taken. It also would not require abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy to be done in a hospital by a physician, nor would it require inspections or licensure for abortion facilities and allow abortions for any reason up to and including the moment of birth, known as a partial-birth abortion, which is illegal under federal law.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Senate Democrats say they will move forward with abortion rights legislation as they are expected to pass the Protect Reproductive Options Act this week. The bill, which Governor Tim Walz says he will sign, would write a guarantee for abortion rights into Minnesota law along with guaranteed access to contraception, sterilization and family planning.

Abortion was already legal under the state Supreme Court’s Doe v. Gomez decision in 1995; making it state law would prevent it from being overturned by a more conservative court later.

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