The Minnesota Senate debated for 14 hours on the Protect Reproductive Options Act (PRO Act) before passing it by one vote.
Gov. Tim Walz said he would sign the bill into law.
The pro-life movement has called it extreme, claiming that abortion can happen up until the due date and allowing children to get one without the parent’s permission.
I do not see that in the bill, but the bill is vague. We know the Senate voted down amendments to ban third-trimester abortions and parental notification. Here is the full text:
Section 1. [145.409] REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS.Subdivision 1. Short title. This section may be cited as the “Protect Reproductive Options Act.”Subd. 2. Definition. For purposes of this section, “reproductive health care” means health care offered, arranged, or furnished for the purpose of preventing pregnancy, terminating a pregnancy, managing pregnancy loss, or improving maternal health and birth outcomes. Reproductive health care includes, but is not limited to, contraception;sterilization; preconception care; maternity care; abortion care; family planning and fertility services; and counseling regarding reproductive health care.Subd. 3. Reproductive freedom. (a) Every individual has a fundamental right to make autonomous decisions about the individual’s own reproductive health, including the fundamental right to use or refuse reproductive health care.(b) Every individual who becomes pregnant has a fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth, or obtain an abortion, and to make autonomous decisions about how to exercise this fundamental right.Subd. 4. Right to reproductive freedom recognized. The Minnesota Constitution establishes the principles of individual liberty, personal privacy, and equality. Such principles ensure the fundamental right to reproductive freedom.Subd. 5. Local unit of government limitation. A local unit of government may not regulate an individual’s ability to freely exercise the fundamental rights set forth in this section in a manner that is more restrictive than that set forth in this section.EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.
The Democrats wanted to push abortion bills after the party took control of both chambers and the governor’s mansion:
“Today, the Minnesota Senate demonstrated that we will not simply put our faith in individual judges to uphold our rights and freedoms – we will also enshrine those rights into state statute,” said Democratic Sen. Jen McEwen, of Duluth, the lead author of the legislation. “Minnesotans now have an affirmative right to make their own decisions about reproductive health care. I’m proud to have taken this step today, and we will continue to advance legislation to ensure Minnesotans have meaningful access to the care they need.”
Dr. Sarah Traxler, Planned Parenthood North Central States’ chief medical officer, celebrated: “Today, the Minnesota Senate voted to trust doctors and our patients. The PRO Act solidifies Minnesotans’ human rights into state law and is an insurance policy that our rights won’t be taken away by politicians or judges. All I want, and doctors across Minnesota want, is to provide the best care we can to our patients. And by passing the PRO Act into state law, the Minnesota Legislature will allow us to do just that.”
This isn’t the end. The Democrats want “to restrict state grants for crisis pregnancy centers, which are nonprofits created by abortion opponents meant to dissuade women from ending pregnancies.”
ACKSHUALLY. There are plenty of pregnancy crisis centers that provide education for adoption, keeping the baby, and….abortion! Weird, tight?
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