Hundreds show up for anti-abortion rally at Minnesota Capitol

Hundreds of people came out to the front of the Minnesota Capitol on Monday as part of an anti-abortion rally.

Crowds started gathering at around noon for the 2024 March for Life, the annual event organized by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL).

It comes on the 51st anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which protected the right to an abortion. However, in the wake of the court’s June 2022 move to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban abortions, the issue has been a key political topic, with each side fiercely backing its stance.

During last year’s legislative session, the DFL-controlled Minnesota Legislature codified the right to abortion into state law and approved protections for any health care workers who help anyone get reproductive health care.

MCCL says it displayed 12,000 life-sized models of unborn children on the Capitol steps for Monday’s rally to represent each abortion in Minnesota in 2022. Data from the Minnesota Department of Health says 12,175 abortions were recorded in 2022. The 2023 data isn’t yet publicly available but MCCL says it expects an increase over 2022.

The organization also announced its new outreach arm, called the Center for a Pro-Life Minnesota, during the rally.