There have been more than a dozen political protests at the Alaska State Capitol since President Donald Trump took office in January.
But members of an anti-abortion group called Alaskans for Life who gathered on Thursday said they didn’t have specific demands for legislators. Instead, they took to the steps of the Capitol to spread awareness for their cause.
A group of 30 people prayed while huddling under a tent in the driving wind and rain.
They were up against more than the weather. Throughout the rally, individuals walking and driving past yelled their dissent with boos and chants of “my body my choice.”
Attendees like Jane Villant said they want to lead the conversation around abortion with care.
“Well, it’s all about saving the babies,” she said. “You know that young women that find themselves – or older women that find themselves – pregnant, that there’s options out there.”
The rally came as access to abortion has been limited nationally and locally – though the Alaska Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that the state constitution’s privacy clause protects abortion rights. Still, lawmakers have attempted annually to limit abortion access, most recently during the current legislative session.
Abortion rights dissolved nationally in 2022 when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade — a 1973 Supreme Court ruling that established abortion rights federally.
Juneau’s Planned Parenthood clinic closed last year, limiting access to abortion care locally, though patients can still receive abortion care remotely. The Trump administration continues to target federal funding for reproductive care.
In a speech at the rally, Priscilla Hurley said she was protesting against abortions because she felt pressure from partners and her parents to have the procedure when she was a young woman.
“So I go into the hospital pregnant. I come out not pregnant. And I went back to college,” she said. “I was just like, ‘Yes, I’ll comply.’ But there was nobody that talked about it.”
Hurley pointed to the right to choose, and said she didn’t get that choice. It’s a line of argument also used by abortion rights advocates.
Many protesters said that abortion clinics don’t give pregnant women the complete picture of their options, or the potential for trauma from abortions.
Rose O’Hara-Holley, the Alaska state director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, said in an email, “We trust Alaskans to make the best decisions for themselves and their families, based on facts, science, and compassion, not fear or misinformation.”
In a study of 1,000 women who sought abortions, more than 95% of those who chose to have abortions reported that it was the right decision for them when interviewed over the next five years.
For the most part, speakers and attendees avoided talking about politics. Tiffany Bean said she didn’t have any requests for legislators in the Capitol building they were gathered in front of.
“I don’t think I am familiar enough with any bills or anything like that that they have on the table right now,” Bean said. “I appreciate them. I would like them to know that I pray for them on a regular basis.”
Bean said she just wants people to approach this issue with more openness and less divisiveness.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misrepresented the timeline of a study of women who sought abortions.
