Minnesota Senate passes what opponents call the nation’s “most extreme” abortion bill
After 15 hours of contentious debate, the Minnesota Senate early Saturday morning passed legislation guaranteeing abortion rights, a law Republicans have called anti-life the “most extreme” in the nation.
The Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act passed the state Senate 34-33 after Republicans unsuccessfully tried 35 times to change the law. The bill states that “every human being has the fundamental right to make autonomous decisions about their own reproductive health.”
Democrats sped up the legislation in response to the US Supreme Court’s decision last summer to rule Roe v. Repeal Wade — and end federal protections for abortions. While abortion rights were previously ruled in a Minnesota Supreme Court decision, Doe v. Gomez, which was guaranteed in 1995, abortion rights activists and Democrats said the PRO Act was necessary to codify into state law the right to abortion, as well as the right to contraception and fertility treatment and pregnancy.
“What Minnesotans are afraid of is possibly seeing what has happened to us at the federal level US Supreme Court could happen here in Minnesota sometime in the future,” said Sen. Jennifer McEwen, a Duluth Democrat who supports the bill. “The decisions of our courts, upholding our basic human rights, are only as strong as the judges who uphold them.”
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Abortion protesters on both sides fill the halls outside the Minnesota Senate chamber at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota on Friday, January 27, 2023.
(AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
Pro-life and pro-choice protesters flocked to the Minnesota State Capitol Building to voice their opinions on the PRO Act on Friday.
(AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
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Supporters of the bill say it won’t change the status quo in Minnesota.
“The PRO Act enshrines the human rights of Minnesotans in state law and is an assurance that our rights will not be taken away by politicians or judges,” said Dr. Sarah Traxler, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood North Central States.
“All I want, and doctors across Minnesota want, is to provide our patients with the best possible care. And by passing the PRO Act into state law, the Minnesota Legislature will allow us to do just that,” she added in a statement.
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The Minnesota Senate passed legislation on Saturday to include broad protections for abortion rights in state statutes, which would make it harder for future courts to reverse it.
(AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
Opponents disagree, arguing that the bill establishes a right to an abortion up to the point of birth. Republicans had attempted to amend the law with “guard rails” that would restrict third-trimester abortions, but the newly elected Democratic majority blocked their changes.
“Today we don’t just codify Roe v. calf or Doe v. Gomez, as the author has implied, we are passing the most extreme law in the country,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, a Republican of East Grand Forks, said during the debate.
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The PRO bill now goes to the desk of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz for signature. He has said he supports the law and will enforce it.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
