The Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC) organized in front of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office on Sunday in a protest for abortion rights. It included speakers from the Climate Justice Committee (CJC), Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and Minnesota Anti-War Committee.
Nearly 30 protestors opposed crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) and the pro-life sentiments these centers promote. CPCs, which are often confused with abortion clinics, are nonprofits established to dissuade women from abortions and birth control, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The protest, which aimed to support women’s rights and freedoms across the globe, was held in front of 1200 Washington Ave. S, where Senator Klobuchar holds her operations as a politician.
Robyn Harbison, one of the protest leaders for MNAAC, said they chose Klobuchar’s office because of her inaction during her time in office.
According to Harbison, the protest attempted to force Klobuchar, who served as a Minnesota Senate Representative during the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the Democratic Party into holding themselves responsible for their pacifism.
Roe v. Wade, a landmark civil rights case decided by the Supreme Court in 1973, nationally protected a woman’s right to have an abortion. That decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022 and left the decision of abortion to state politicians.
“She was in office the whole time that it was overturned,” Harbison said. “It’s been a very stagnant response from the Democrats.”
Harbison was one of several activists who spoke on how women’s rights affect their respective organization’s efforts. Other speakers, including CJC member C.J. McCormick, spoke on behalf of their organization in solidarity with MNAAC’s efforts and how abortion rights relate to climate justice.
“The people who ban abortion are the same people who want to drill the planet until there’s nothing left, and they get rich off of poisoning us,” McCormick said. “Pregnancy is actually the first place you’ll see this poisoning in our communities.”
McCormick said the pollution that communities face can cause generational harm.
“Basically anywhere where there’s heavy pollution, expecting mothers, especially the ones who cannot afford to move, are forced to suffer the most,” McCormick said. “And they are forced to pass this suffering onto their unborn children.”
Crista Ocampo, a speaker for the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, mirrored the sentiments of MNAAC.
Ocampo said because of the Israel-Palestine War, women in Palestine face much higher rates of miscarriages and dangerous birth conditions that could lead to serious health risks for both the mother and child.
According to Ocampo, the U.S. government’s involvement and funding of the conflict is taking money and rights from women in the U.S.
“The politicians who are sending bombs and military aid to uphold apartheid occupation are the same politicians who are stripping our rights away here in the states,” Ocampo said.
These decisions, by both local and national politicians, is why MNAAC organized after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, according to Harbison.
“We just want to be really upfront in saying that (Democrats) need to be held accountable,” Harbison said.
