: What a governor and state legislators can do to limit abortion in Minnesota
Since May, abortion has been a major legal and political issue. This was after an unprecedented leak of a pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning the 1973 ruling which legalized it nationally. It is a top issue that voters will be considering in this election, according to both national and state opinion polls.
What can candidates running in Minnesota do to limit abortion and further protect access? These are the answers to your questions on the topic and the current situation in Minnesota during the week leading up to Nov. 8.
Q – Is Minnesota legal to have an abortion?
A: Yes. A: Yes. The 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade ruling found that abortion is legal under the U.S. Constitution. However, the Minnesota Supreme Court’s subsequent rulings found similar protection in the Minnesota Constitution. The state courts preserved abortion access in Minnesota after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June in Dobbs Women’s Health Organization.
Q. Does Minnesota’s state constitution make abortion legal?
A: The state constitution does not contain the word “abortion”. Instead, the state courts have held that the Minnesota Constitution protects privacy rights and includes health care decisions made by pregnant women. Doe v. Gomez, 1995 ruled that Medicaid must cover abortions for low-income women. However, the court first had to decide that there is a fundamental rights to abortion in both federal and state law. In the same ruling, it was found that women who receive Medical Assistance must have their abortion costs covered by the state.
“This court has not directly addressed, however whether the right to privacy under the Minnesota Constitution encompasses women’s decision about terminating their pregnancy,” the 1995 Doe court wrote, citing four sections from the state constitution. *
The discussion then turned to whether abortion access was a fundamental human right or a threshold to be granted.
The State has accepted this point and now believes that the fundamental rights in this case are the freedom of a woman during pregnancy to choose whether or not to end her pregnancy. This view has been accepted by the State span>
The Roe decision left legislative power to regulate abortion. Many laws were passed, including viability standards. These are the criteria that govern whether abortions for medical reasons will be allowed. They also include information requirements and waiting periods. As mentioned above, many of these laws were deemed unconstitutional by both federal and state courts.
Q. Have Minnesota state legislators successfully placed restrictions on abortion in Minnesota?
A: There are not many. A 24-hour waiting period was approved by state lawmakers. They also required that informed consent be given to all who seek abortion. It also required that doctors only perform abortions, and that they are done in hospitals after the first trimester. The law also required minors to notify their parents or obtain a waiver from the court.
In a case called Doe. State of Minnesota, a Ramsey County judge ruled that all of these restrictions on abortion violated Doe.v. Gomez.
The judge did not change one law, which required that all medical information regarding abortions performed in the state must be reported to it. The Born Alive Infant Protection Act, which requires that a second doctor present for any abortions after 20 weeks in order to “preserve the life and health” of any infant born alive as a result of the abortion span>
In 1976, a federal court found that the state’s statutory viability standards was unconstitutional. This provision makes abortion illegal at any point during a pregnancy where a fetus is viable.
In a case called Doe. State of Minnesota, a Ramsey County judge ruled that many other restrictions on abortion were in violation of Doe.v. Gomez, the state Supreme Court decision. These invalidated restrictions included a 24-hour wait period, the requirement for informed consent to be given to pregnant women, and the requirement that only doctors perform abortions. They also required that hospitals be used after the first trimester.
Another provision that was invalidated was the requirement that minors inform both parents or obtain a waiver from the court.
Q. What can the Minnesota Legislature change?
A: Not much. The UnRestrict Minnesota lawsuit (Doe. State of Minnesota) was not appealed by the state, so the ruling is in effect. Depending on the outcome of the election there may be majority in both the House and Senate to approve bans or additional restrictions. Even if they weren’t vetoed next week by the governor, they will likely be invalidated by the state Supreme Court.
The 2022 election will be dominated by abortion. Governor. Tim Walz, DFL candidates and Tim Walz said they would fight for abortion legalization. Scott Jensen, the GOP nominee and GOP candidates stated that the court rulings would not allow any changes to the status-quo. Jensen opposed abortion and stated early in the campaign that he would work for its banning. He has changed his position since he was endorsed by the GOP, arguing that he does not have the power to alter current court rulings. He has also supported greater access to birth control, including morning after pills.
Q. But could the state constitution not be amended to modify the privacy sections that were referenced in Doe ?
A: Yes. But it isn’t an easy process. A majority vote would be required by both houses of the Legislature to approve an amendment. The measure is not binding on the governors. To be approved, however, it must be approved by the majority of voters who voted in the election. This means that a majority of voters who voted in the election, but did not vote for the constitutional amendment, would vote against its passage.
Another question is: Would such an amendment be passed? A combination of polling and Kansas’ recent experience with an anti-abortion bill failing, makes it unlikely that voters would approve an amendment banning or restricting abortion. Rep. Kurt Daudt (Republican in line to become the next House Speaker if the GOP wins a majority) has stated that he wouldn’t push for such an amendment.
If Democrats control the Legislature, Democrats might try to pass a measure affirming access to abortion. To ensure abortion access, three states — California and Michigan — have constitutional amendments that are on the ballot.
Q. What are the opinions of voters?
A According to opinion polls, both the United States of America and Minnesota support keeping abortion legal. However, there are also strong supports for allowing abortions for non-medical reasons.
The most recent MinnPost/Embold Research pollspan styling=”font-weight 400 ;”>, 67% said they opposed a Minnesota complete ban on abortion. 56% said they would “strongly resist” such a ban.
Strong support was given to legalizing abortions in the cases of incest and/or rape pregnancies. This is when the pregnancy is unviable or the woman’s life or health are at risk. Only 36% of respondents said that they support abortion in the second trimester.
Q. What power does the governor have over the composition of the state Supreme Court?
A: Good question. Let’s first look at what Republicans and Democrats have to say about it.
DFLers – It is important to have a DFL governor in order to ensure that the future Minnesota Supreme Court appointees will uphold Doe as well as the Unrestrict Minnesota rulings.
Republicans – GOP nominee Scott Jensen stated at the last debate that Minnesota’s elected judiciary is in charge of determining the composition of the court.
The truth: Although the state judiciary, which includes the seven members on the state Supreme Court are elected, the practice is that the state courts get appointed. This is because many sitting judges leave office before their retirement age, either voluntarily or due to the necessity of retiring. The governor then makes appointments. It is rare that these appointees are challenged at election time, and it is rare that they lose.
Since 1946, a sitting justice of the Supreme Court has not lost reelection. It happened before in 1916. Since 1946, voters have only been presented with a race for a Supreme Court seat without an incumbent. This was most recently in 1992, when Justice Alan Page won an uncontested seat.
Q. What else can a governor do to ensure reproductive health access?
A: Walz issued an Executive Order the day after Dobbs’ decision by the U.S. Supreme Court was published. It sought to ensure access to abortion for women from outside the State. The executive order required state agencies to ensure that people are not able to provide, assist, seek, or obtain reproductive health services in the state. The law also prohibits state agencies collaborating with other states to sanction or punish women who come to Minnesota for abortions. Other states seeking to enforce abortion bans would be denied extradition requests.
Q. What has Keith Ellison done regarding the abortion issue?
A. Minnesota’s AG is charged with defending the state’s law in court. When restrictions on abortion were challenged before court, Keith Ellison, the incumbent DFLer, initially defended them, even though he supports abortion access.
Ellison did not appeal the district court’s decision to remove limits on abortion. He stated that it was a business decision and not a political one. Ellison claims that he believes their chances of winning an appeal are slim. Some anti-abortion groups criticised Ellison’s decision not to appeal. They claimed it was motivated by Ellison’s pro-abortion stance.
Ellison said that he would fight any attempts to extradite people from states where abortion is illegal in order to have the procedure performed in Minnesota. He also stated that he would not prosecute anyone who travels there for an abortion.
An AG can join larger lawsuits regarding abortion. Ellison joined a group of attorneys general to try to stop any Texas attempt to penalize organizations that allow pregnant Texans to have an abortion in Texas.
Q: If elected attorney general, how would Republican Jim Schultz approach abortion accessibility?
A Republican Jim Schultz was a former member of an anti-abortion group’s board and stated at the GOP convention that “we all know the unborn baby is a human being deserving legal protection.”
He previously stated that he would continue to “offense” the issue and criticized policies that required pharmacists to “prescribe abortion drugs.” He said that he would defend people’s rights to choose their religion.
Schultz claims he supports an abortion ban after 20 weeks. This would allow for the vast majority of abortions. He also said that he was disappointed Ellison didn’t appeal the decision removing abortion restrictions. He said he would defend Minnesota law, and in a debate on MPR News, promised to not “leverage [my office] for abortion policy span>
Schultz stated that the question of pharmacists was an “ancillary” issue at the debate but added that “we must create space for religious minority in our country.”
Q. Are late-term abortions legal in Minnesota?
A: No. According to the most recent Minnesota abortion report covering the year 2021 there were 10,136 abortions that year. Only 159 of those abortions were performed on fetuses born after the 20th Week of Gestation, and only one was performed between 25 and 30 Weeks.
69% of all abortions were performed within the first nine weeks.
Minnesota residents were responsible for 9127 abortions in 2021. The rest came from other states, mainly Wisconsin, South Dakota and North Dakota. This could change if other Midwest states restrict access to the procedure.
Q. Has Minnesota seen an increase in outside-state residents seeking abortions after Roe was overturned?
A: No data is available on this yet. The state releases its abortion report annually in spring. However, it has been observed that there are some indications that the answer is yes. The state has reported an increase in demand for medical and surgical abortions from pregnant women living in states that have restricted the procedure.
The number of sex abortions in the United States is decreasingspan styling=”font-weight 400 ;”>,, especially in the South. There is evidence that states with access to abortions have seen an increase in demand. The shipment of abortion pills has also increased, even from overseas suppliers.
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*In Jarvis v. Levine we specifically stated that privacy rights under the Minnesota Constitution are rooted in Article I Sections 1, 2, and 10. *”Specifically, in Jarvis v. Levine, we indicated that the right to privacy under the Minnesota Constitution is rooted in Article I Sections 1, 2 and 10.
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