Battle Over Blackmun Bust Continues
By Dave Andrusko

The saga of efforts to place a bust of Roe v. Wade author Harry Blackmun in his hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota, is now in its third chapter, thanks to a resolution passed unanimously by the St. Paul City Council April 5.

Without discussion, the Council approved 6-0 a resolution offered by member Kathy Lantry which said the council would "hold the bust in trust" until the state legislature agrees to place the Blackmun likeness outside the state Supreme Court. The resolution calls for

placing the bust in the marble halls of the St. Paul City Hall/Ramsey County Courthouse. Erich Mische, an aide to pro-life St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, said the city should not get involved. "Let the Legislature deal with it. Let's keep the conflict up at the Capitol," he told the St. Paul Pioneer Express. Because the courthouse is jointly operated, a similar solution will be brought before the Ramsey County Board by Commissioner Rafael Ortega.

Meanwhile, with little time to go in the legislative session, the Minnesota House and Senate have yet to work out their differences. On March 20, the House voted 69-58 to eliminate the proposal from an omnibus spending measure which would have allowed the Minnesota Historical Society to place a bust of Blackmun across the hall from one of former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, who also hailed from St. Paul, Minnesota.

Three days later, however, the Senate handily approved a proposal which would allow placement of a privately financed bust of Blackmun outside the state Supreme Court chamber. The Senate turned aside an amendment offered by Sen. Dan Stevens to remove the memorial from a spending bill on a vote of 45-22.

With the legislature scheduled to adjourn April 18, a resolution to the heated controversy may or may not be hashed out in a conference committee. Council Member Lantry said that Blackmun and Burger both grew up in the city's 7th Ward, the district she now represents. "He did a lot of good in his life," she told the Pioneer Press. "That is where his [Blackmun's] bust belongs, outside the Supreme Court." Pro-lifers passionately disagree.

"Pro-lifers are deeply offended that lawmakers would even consider commissioning such a statue for the State Capitol," said Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) Executive Director Jackie Schwietz. "This man is considered the father of legal abortion. He has the blood of millions of children on his hands."

MCCL Vice President Marice Rosenberg compared Blackmun's legacy to that of Adolf Hitler's. "Both are in large part responsible for the destruction of innocents," she said.

Blackmun died last year at the age of 90. He was a member of the High Court for 24 years.