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

A Brief Overview: Minnesota Politics and Culture, Its Unique Forum in
Fostering the Abortion Debate, and Setting the Stage for Minnesota
Activists to Continue on a Post-Roe National Scale
In the still snow-covered days of a Minnesota March in 1968, a group of
neighbors and concerned citizens met in the living room of George and Alice Hartle, in
the heart of the Calhoun-Isles district of Minneapolis. Alice, a former lobbyist, had
recently organized the meeting with the help of Reverend William Hunt, as both had
become concerned with recent rumblings in the Minnesota state legislature that would
attempt to overturn a Minnesota bill that outlawed abortion. Present too were the
husband and wife pair, Robert and Mary Joyce, a Catholic professor and writer,
respectively, from nearby St. Cloud. Dr. Fred and Mrs. Marjory Mecklenburg were also
in attendance; they were vocal Methodists who shared a backyard with the Hartles. 1
These friends, among others, had come together to contemplate the formation of an
organization to prevent the liberalization of the Minnesota law. While some, like the
Hartles and the Joyces, were easily persuaded to join the cause, Marjory Mecklenburg
was hesitant. Unsure of her opinions, especially on such a broad issue with great
implications and varying instances for consideration, she did not subscribe to the group
right away. However, later in the meeting, and perhaps after her husband, Fred, was
voted the first president of the organization on the spot, Marjory joined the board. 2
With
1 Mary and Robert Joyce, interview with author, 4 November 2010, St. Cloud, MN.
2 Ibid. Throughout the remainder of this thesis, I will typically use “Fred” to refer to Fred
Mecklenburg, and “Mecklenburg” to refer to Marjory Mecklenburg.
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