Thousands rally at Minnesota Capitol in support of abortion rights

Thousands of people people marched Sunday to the State Capitol to express their rage after the overturning of federal abortion rights while also celebrating the progress Minnesota has made since the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down last month.

Abortion rights advocates listened to lawmakers and performers who echoed their concerns and demands for bodily autonomy, which they said has been stripped away, with other rights to privacy at risk. Democratic officials addressing the crowd said that more needs to be done to position Minnesota as a leader of abortion rights.

Attorney General Keith Ellison said the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe was an "outrageous deprivation of rights," and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar said the ruling goes against what the Constitution is about — "expanding rights, protecting liberty for all of us."

"If you don't want to go back to a time when ultraconservative white men decide what you do with your body, you have to fight back with us," Omar said. "If you do not want birth control to be made illegal, you have to fight back with us."

The rally, organized by UnRestrict Minnesota, Planned Parenthood, Gender Justice, ACLU of Minnesota and ERA Minnesota, Jewish Community Action and the Minnesota Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, drew a crowd of 5,000, according to the State Patrol, and a handful of counter-protesters. Abortion rights advocates shouted, "Thank God for abortion!" through bullhorns and sang Abba's "Dancing Queen" to drown out several men citing Bible passages.

Gov. Tim Walz, who is running for re-election, thanked the crowd for attending the rally.

"Some day, our children and grandchildren are going to ask what the hell we did during this time, and you're going to say, 'Everything possible,' " he said.

"What we do, come November, will shape this state for a generation to come," Walz said, adding that his campaign opponents support abortion bans.

In a statement, Scott Fischbach, executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, said the rally's organizers "oppose even the most reasonable and modest abortion policies, including longstanding Minnesota laws such as our 'Woman's Right to Know' informed consent law and our parental notification law — both of which were just struck down by an extreme court decision."

Ramsey County District Judge Thomas Gilligan Jr. last week repealed numerous state abortion restrictions, ruling that the laws violated the Minnesota Constitution. Abortion rights supporters say the next steps include legally protecting providers and patients, including those who come from out of state seeking abortions, and making the procedure more affordable and equitable.

"Access to abortion is still a big issue in Minnesota — we only have eight clinics," said Erin Hart, spokesperson with UnRestrict Minnesota. "Most of our surrounding states are really restricting abortion, and people will be coming to Minnesota. We need to meet the demand."

About 60% of Minnesotans in a 2018 Star Tribune-MPR News Minnesota Poll said they would not want to see Roe v. Wade overruled.

Charity Densinger, 59, of St. Paul attended the rally. While in nursing school and a single parent 30 years ago, she said, she found out she was pregnant and had an abortion.

"I cherish the fact that I had that choice," she said.

When Sheyla Pillado of Minneapolis found out she was pregnant last year, she said she made the choice to become a mother but would decide differently now.

"We were a little bit scared to have a child at such a young age," said Pillado, 22. "If we had another one, then I would probably end up having an abortion. … I'm just happy to have a choice. I live in a state where I can have a choice."

Although bound to a wheelchair while awaiting a hip replacement, Arlinda McKeen, 72, traveled to St. Paul from Des Moines, Iowa, to attend Sunday's rally. Her daughter, Amy Toth of Roseville, pushed McKeen through the crowd to the Capitol lawn.

"I was at the University of Iowa in the late '60s before Roe. v Wade, and it was not a pretty scene," McKeen said. "It's hard to think that women are going to have to work so hard to get the health care they need and deserve to be able to decide for themselves."