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Five Thousand Gather at Minnesota March for Life
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
ST. PAUL, Minn., January 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Thousands of pro-life Minnesotans gathered on the steps of the Capitol building on Thursday for the annual rally to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The participants urged lawmakers to retain and to institute new laws to protect the unborn and to offer support for pregnant women in need.
Bill Poehler, communications director for Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), the organizers of the rally, said nearly five thousand attended this year's march. They were warmly welcomed by pro-life Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who told the crowd that he was proud to stand with them in “the noble cause of affirming the culture of life.”
"We are going to have to continue to work, because if we can change the hearts and change the minds, then the laws will follow," Pawlenty said to the enthusiastic multitude.
Pawlenty also said he would urge the Legislature to maintain full funding for Positive Alternatives, a program that helps fund programs offering abortion alternatives and support for pregnant women and their children. “We should all be able to come together to promote positive alternatives to abortion in Minnesota and America,” Pawlenty said.
The Hon. Norm Coleman, a former senator, spoke to the thousands of pro-life citizens, saying that Roe v. Wade “compromised” the right to life guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence, and that one cannot have liberty and the pursuit of happiness without life.
"A society that values happiness and freedom of choice over life is headed in the wrong direction," Coleman declared. He pointed out that “every nation is defined by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. Who is more vulnerable that the unborn?”
MCCL Legislative Associate Jordan Bauer presented the MCCL's 2009 Legislative Agenda, proposals the group hopes will be passed in law this year, to the huge crowd.
He explained the main points of the Legislative Agenda which include saving the Positive Alternatives program from funding cutbacks, prohibiting coercion of women to abort, banning the saline injection abortion procedure, banning taxpayer funding of abortions, and defending the existing pro-life laws, which include the Woman’s Right to Know law, the Parental Notification law and the Unborn Child Pain Prevention Act.
“No woman should ever be forced into abortion—not by relatives, the child’s father or abortionists,” Bauer said. “We have legislation this year to stop coerced abortions. Abortion is not a choice, because no baby would ever choose to die.”
Other officials who expressed their support for the Minnesota March for Life were Lieutenant Gov. Carol Molnau, who offered words of support and encouragement to the state’s large pro-life movement, and Sen. Michelle Fischbach, R-Paynesville, who said, "I know there is a big focus on finances this year ... but there's always room to support the culture of life in Minnesota,"
A press release from MCCL said that dozens of pro-life state legislators were in attendance at the March for Life. In addition greetings were read from U.S. Reps. John Kline, Erik Paulsen, Michele Bachmann, Collin Peterson and James Oberstar.
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
ST. PAUL, Minn., January 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Thousands of pro-life Minnesotans gathered on the steps of the Capitol building on Thursday for the annual rally to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The participants urged lawmakers to retain and to institute new laws to protect the unborn and to offer support for pregnant women in need.
Bill Poehler, communications director for Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), the organizers of the rally, said nearly five thousand attended this year's march. They were warmly welcomed by pro-life Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who told the crowd that he was proud to stand with them in “the noble cause of affirming the culture of life.”
"We are going to have to continue to work, because if we can change the hearts and change the minds, then the laws will follow," Pawlenty said to the enthusiastic multitude.
Pawlenty also said he would urge the Legislature to maintain full funding for Positive Alternatives, a program that helps fund programs offering abortion alternatives and support for pregnant women and their children. “We should all be able to come together to promote positive alternatives to abortion in Minnesota and America,” Pawlenty said.
The Hon. Norm Coleman, a former senator, spoke to the thousands of pro-life citizens, saying that Roe v. Wade “compromised” the right to life guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence, and that one cannot have liberty and the pursuit of happiness without life.
"A society that values happiness and freedom of choice over life is headed in the wrong direction," Coleman declared. He pointed out that “every nation is defined by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. Who is more vulnerable that the unborn?”
MCCL Legislative Associate Jordan Bauer presented the MCCL's 2009 Legislative Agenda, proposals the group hopes will be passed in law this year, to the huge crowd.
He explained the main points of the Legislative Agenda which include saving the Positive Alternatives program from funding cutbacks, prohibiting coercion of women to abort, banning the saline injection abortion procedure, banning taxpayer funding of abortions, and defending the existing pro-life laws, which include the Woman’s Right to Know law, the Parental Notification law and the Unborn Child Pain Prevention Act.
“No woman should ever be forced into abortion—not by relatives, the child’s father or abortionists,” Bauer said. “We have legislation this year to stop coerced abortions. Abortion is not a choice, because no baby would ever choose to die.”
Other officials who expressed their support for the Minnesota March for Life were Lieutenant Gov. Carol Molnau, who offered words of support and encouragement to the state’s large pro-life movement, and Sen. Michelle Fischbach, R-Paynesville, who said, "I know there is a big focus on finances this year ... but there's always room to support the culture of life in Minnesota,"
A press release from MCCL said that dozens of pro-life state legislators were in attendance at the March for Life. In addition greetings were read from U.S. Reps. John Kline, Erik Paulsen, Michele Bachmann, Collin Peterson and James Oberstar.
