Keyes leads prayer rally at Missouri Capitol

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Conservative activist Alan Keyes says many Americans have become confused about their "rights" as U.S. citizens.

Keyes was the keynote speaker Monday at a prayer rally that drew about 200 people to the Missouri Capitol. He has run several times for president and was soundly defeated by Barack Obama in Illinois' 2004 U.S. Senate race.

At the prayer rally, Keyes noted that the Declaration of Independence says people possess "unalienable rights" from God. Yet, Keyes said, many people want to leave out God and equate "rights" with their own desires.

Keyes especially denounced the concept of a right to have an abortion, as upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. He described abortion as murdering a baby in the womb, which he said does not come from God's will.