Courtesy of MCCL press release: Nearly five thousand Minnesotans marched at the State Capitol today to urge lawmakers not to cut the crucial Positive Alternatives program providing practical, essential help for pregnant women in need. They also called for an end to coerced abortions in which women experience pressure or physical violence. The annual Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) March for Life commemorates the millions of lives lost to abortion.
The 2009 MCCL March for Life marked the 36th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions that have resulted in the deaths of more than 530,000 unborn Minnesota children, and more than 50 million unborn babies nationwide. In addition, recent research from the Elliot Institute shows that nearly two-thirds of post-abortive women report that coercion was a factor in their abortions.

“No woman should ever be forced into abortion—not by relatives, the child’s father or abortionists,” MCCL Legislative Associate Jordan Bauer told the huge crowd of citizens from across the state. “We have legislation this year to stop coerced abortions. Abortion is not a choice, because no baby would ever choose to die.”

MCCL called upon lawmakers to preserve full funding for Positive Alternatives as they deliberate over the budget deficit. Passed in 2005, this legislation provides grants to organizations that help pregnant women successfully face the challenges of pregnancy and childbirth. More than 12,000 women received critical help in the program’s first two years. “Positive Alternatives saves lives,” Bauer explained. “We must save the Positive Alternatives program!”
MCCL’s 2008 legislative agenda also calls for a ban on sex-selection and saline abortions, as well as a ban on taxpayer funding of abortion. In 2006 (most recent figures), Minnesotans were forced to pay $1.6 million for elective abortions, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Taxpayers now fund 28 percent of all abortions in the state.

MCCL will oppose the Reproductive Privacy Act, S.F. 115, which would nullify virtually all protective laws, including informed consent under Woman’s Right to Know and the state’s parental notification provision. Several of Minnesota’s pro-life elected officials offered words of support to the state’s pro-life majority. Prolife Gov. Tim Pawlenty told the crowd that he was proud to stand with them in “the noble cause of affirming the culture of life.” Pawlenty also urged the Legislature to maintain full funding for Positive Alternatives. “We should all be able to come together to promote positive alternatives to abortion in Minnesota and America.”

The Hon. Norm Coleman spoke to the thousands of pro-life citizens, saying that Roe v. Wade “compromised” the right to life guaranteed in the Declaration of Independence. “Every nation is defined by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens,” Coleman declared. “Who is more vulnerable that the unborn?”

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