ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO/AP) – Colleen Tronson held a sign on the Capitol steps on Tuesday saying “I had an abortion and I regret it” as part of the anti-abortion rally.

Tronson said she had her first abortion when she was 18.

“I’ve had three abortions between the time I was 18 and 21,” she said. “All I knew to do was to escape the reality of a pregnancy.”

When she was 22, she got pregnant again, only this time, someone shared with her the option of adoption.

“So I had my fourth child, and did an adoption plan for him,” she said. “He just turned 30 this year, and I’m so grateful that someone shared with me that option of adoption.”

Tronson said she was raised in a Christian family and knew that it was wrong.

“For many years I had nightmares, I had flashbacks,” she said. “I was very controlling and had a lot of emotional issues, but thankfully my faith in Jesus Christ helped me to overcome that.”

Tronson joined hundreds on the Capitol steps. She has dedicated her life to educating women about the option of adoption, and working to change the abortion laws. Minnesotans Citizens Concerned for Life hosted the Tuesday rally, which draws thousands to St. Paul each year. The group will announce its agenda for this legislative session.

Tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, making abortion legal in the United States. Even in the cold, people came from all over Minnesota to show their opposition to abortion.

With state government now controlled by Democrats, odds are slim of passing any anti-abortion legislation. Gov. Mark Dayton last session vetoed a Republican-backed bill that would have required a doctor’s presence for pill-induced abortions.

Minnesota physicians have performed more than 560,000 abortions since 1975, according to state records. Yearly procedures have been on the decline over the past three decades, down to 11,000 in 2011.

Tronson is now the director of a pregnancy resource center in Crystal, Minn., called Metro Women’s Center.

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