By: Rebecca Oerman, Knights4Life Team Sponsor
On January 22, a group of twenty-two students and adults from Martin Luther Jr/Sr High School attended the annual March for Life at the state capitol grounds in St. Paul. Before the March, the group attended a chapel service at Concordia University-St. Paul. They then went to the capitol, joining thousands of others in support of life. The annual event is a function of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. MCCL provided signs for marchers to hold as they walked a route in front of the capitol. Marchers were also given the opportunity to place a life-size model of a human baby in a display which contained 12,000 figures representing the 12,175 babies aborted in 2022 in Minnesota alone, a 20% increase since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“We can see as we look at this tragic display on the steps of our state Capitol the tremendous loss of life in just one year in our state,” said MCCL Co-Executive Director Cathy Blaeser during the program. “I am devastated to tell you that because of the laws passed by the DFL leadership in this state Capitol behind me, we are likely to see even higher numbers for 2023.”
This year’s March for Life comes after the Minnesota legislature in 2023 established abortion-up-to-birth in state law and repealed numerous long-standing abortion-related policies, including the Woman’s Right to Know informed consent law, the Positive Alternatives program supporting pregnant women, and a measure that ensured lifesaving care for born-alive infants.
After the half-hour march, attendees gathered at the steps of the capitol to listen to several speakers. The main speaker was fifteen-year-old Abby Hewitt of Pine Island, Minnesota, who told her own story. Abby was born with three congenital heart conditions. Her parents were told that, if she survived surgery, Abby could still be blind, deaf, and unable to participate in many activities such as sports. Today, Abby said, she has perfect vision and hearing, and she participates in a wide variety of competitive sports. “Each year in Minnesota, hundreds of babies just like me are aborted,” she stated. “They will never get to go to school, read a book, tell a silly joke, fall in love, or get married. … I am fearfully and wonderfully made, heart defects and all. It’s a great reminder every day that I was created on purpose for a purpose.”
The trip to the March for Life was sponsored by Martin Luther Jr/Sr High School’s Knights4Life organization, which sponsors activities throughout the year to promote the value of all life from conception to natural death. The group annually collects items to create “hygiene kits” for the homeless and donates the kits to area groups and shelters such as The Shepherd’s In, CADA, Options Pregnancy, and the Mankato Salvation Army. They also recently sponsored a letter-writing program for Operation Empowering Hope, a group that provides help and hope for soldiers. This is the second time students from the school have attended the March for Life, something they hope to do on a regular basis in the future.
Top left: MLHS student Emma Sailor smiles for the camera
Top right: The group poses in front of the capitol.
Bottom left: Carter Gieseke, Senora Veronica Balderas, and Jade Kitzerow stop for a picture
Bottom right: some of the 12,000 life-size models of babies in the display