The Pre-Roe Pro-Life Movement in Minnesota and New York

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little or no place for the tactics Mecklenburg and her allies had championed throughout the previous decades. 107
Conclusion Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun returned again to his home state of Minnesota two years after the Roe decision was announced. Far from the welcome he received at the Mayo Clinic half a decade before, many Minnesotans soon rebelled against the Supreme Court justice the state once helped foster. On August 2, 1975, MCCL staged a demonstration entitled “Liberty and Justice for All” at the Town and Country Club in St. Paul, Minnesota. The focus of the demonstration was Blackmun and the Roe decision he authored as he returned to Minnesota for his 50 th reunion of the Mechanic Arts class of 1925. Frustrated by two years of protesting from afar, MCCL decided to take its message, with its argumentative language based in the Declaration of Independence, to the Justice himself. Protesters compared the decision to the 1858 Dred Scott case, in which a slave was ruled a non-citizen; “similarly,” one demonstrator declared, “Blackmun and his colleagues have defined the pre-born child as a nonperson.” 1 Carrying signs asking for “Life, Liberty and ‘Justice’ for All,” and proclaiming “Justice Blackmun is a Fetal Veteran,” entire MCCL families marched and protested along the entrance and front driveway of the country club. 2 The event was aired on local television networks, and reached a significant Minnesota audience. The same ethics of community and active citizenry Minnesota fostered in Blackmun as a child were directed against him and his decision just two years after he made it. This instance highlighted the sharp divisions the abortion debate had spurred within Minnesota and the nation more 1 “Justice Blackmun the Focus of St. Paul Pro-Life Rally,” MCCL Newsletter, September 1975, page 6, MCCL Archives. 2 Ibid. 108
Page 1 and 2:
Abortion as a “Medical Problem Br
Page 3 and 4:
Table of Contents Acknowledgements
Page 5 and 6:
Abbreviations ACCL - American Citiz
Page 7 and 8:
this first neighborhood grassroots
Page 9 and 10:
in New York, California, and Colora
Page 11 and 12:
is a unique and important one to te
Page 13 and 14:
major factors led to MCCL’s victo
Page 15 and 16:
Well before Blackmun’s 1972 Mayo
Page 17 and 18:
Chapter 1: The Pre-History of the C
Page 19 and 20:
practice. The law as it stands is t
Page 21 and 22:
would have functioned independently
Page 23 and 24:
instances also increased awareness
Page 25 and 26:
threat of abortion criminalization
Page 27 and 28:
the actions of new twentieth-centur
Page 29 and 30:
of the MCLTP. 3 In the early 1970s,
Page 31 and 32:
from the Great Depression in its se
Page 33 and 34:
underestimated his opponents, as MC
Page 35 and 36:
who shared a “communitarian ethic
Page 37 and 38:
However, the Council did not offer
Page 39 and 40:
issue-based and activist politics f
Page 41 and 42:
Blake and Fred Mecklenburg and lobb
Page 43 and 44:
yet united front against abortion l
Page 45 and 46:
anti-abortion movement, but also be
Page 47 and 48:
emerging organizations across the c
Page 49 and 50:
the 1970s, and an additional thirte
Page 51 and 52:
When news of Roe and Doe broke, MCC
Page 53 and 54:
their efforts prior to the decision
Page 55 and 56:
the part of state groups and create
Page 57 and 58:
physical space in Minneapolis and r
Page 59 and 60:
58 of them were enacted. 37 Even fo
Page 61 and 62: looms as a menace to all mankind an
Page 63 and 64: War.” 56 President Gerald Ford di
Page 65 and 66: the 1976 Republican Party Platform,
Page 67 and 68: should be noted that pro-life activ
Page 69 and 70: with us.” 81 Needless to say, by
Page 71 and 72: ecord of being vindictive.” 90 Ca
Page 73 and 74: decades of involvement. Yet before
Page 75 and 76: nationwide effort organized by the
Page 77 and 78: in drastic (at the extreme, irrecon
Page 79 and 80: and increase political effectivenes
Page 81 and 82: willing to be window dressing - no
Page 83 and 84: Warren Schaller, and others to form
Page 85 and 86: women, which would become the speci
Page 87 and 88: On multiple levels, ACCL became a p
Page 89 and 90: multi-issue approach was a tactic a
Page 91 and 92: asserted, “often a few key people
Page 93 and 94: Lampe, and others) split to form AC
Page 95 and 96: nomination. Jefferson’s tactics w
Page 97 and 98: administration. 82 Lampe took over
Page 99 and 100: and was also a member of Planned Pa
Page 101 and 102: As previously explored, Mecklenburg
Page 103 and 104: million; Schweiker’s stance and a
Page 105 and 106: Almost immediately after her appoin
Page 107 and 108: The last straw came when Mecklenbur
Page 109 and 110: on the national scene cautiously, m
Page 111: abortion debate she encountered as
Page 115 and 116: legislatures, and celebrated occasi
Page 117 and 118: ecognized nationwide as “one of t
Page 119 and 120: Bibliography Archives and Interview
Page 121 and 122: Gorney, Cynthia. Articles of Faith.
Page 123: Press, Eyal. Absolute Convictions:
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