Walz predicts key year in protecting abortion rights in Minnesota, Upper Midwest

Gov. Tim Walz threw continued support behind the effort to make Minnesota an island of reproductive rights in the Upper Midwest, predicting 2024 will be a key year in the abortion battle that was upended when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

In a panel Monday at the St. Paul headquarters for Planned Parenthood North Central States, which serves Minnesota and four bordering states that have further restricted abortion since the 2022 decision, Walz predicted Minnesota will continue to see a surge in women coming to Minnesota to access abortions.

He also backed the idea of putting an amendment on the ballot to codify abortion rights in the state Constitution, calling it a safeguard from future Republican control.

"This is not some weird, mean political ideology we're trying to force on people," Walz said. "These are people's lives and health care decisions that need to be made by them and their health care provider."

One Republican leader described Monday's panel as a political stunt.

"Today's event is a blatant effort to exploit a divisive issue for political gain," Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said in a statement. "Republicans have offered many ideas to support women and families and also protect innocent lives from extreme abortion policies. Instead of searching for consensus, Minnesota Democrats passed some of the most extreme laws in the country without commonsense limitations protecting mothers and babies."

In Minnesota, constitutional amendments can be placed on ballots with a simple majority vote in both chambers of the Legislature, where Democrats hold narrow majorities. They don't require the governor's signature.

Democrats codified abortion rights in state law last session, but they fear Republicans could take control of government in a future session and undo those protections.

Walz suggested abortion will be a central topic in the 2024 presidential race.

Republicans will "obviously continue to push for a national abortion ban and push to try and overturn these things," he said. "We know [Republican] folks will try to lay a little low and not bring it up because they know the vast majority of Minnesotans don't agree with them. I'll continue to talk about it."

A Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll taken soon after the Supreme Court's decision that overturned Roe said 52% of respondents didn't agree with the court while 40% supported the decision. The decision kicked the debate over abortion access back to individual states.

Abortion opponents have condemned Minnesota's direction since then, calling the state's abortion policy "as extreme as any in the world."

States bordering Minnesota have further restricted abortion rights while Minnesota has gone in the opposite direction. North Dakota and South Dakota are among the most restrictive states, banning abortion with very limited exceptions, while Nebraska bans abortion after 12 weeks. Abortion is currently legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks, but the Iowa Supreme Court is expected to rule later this year on a law, passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor, that would ban most abortions after six weeks. (The law has been under an injunction since July, three days after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it.)

Border-state restrictions have meant a surge in the procedure in Minnesota.

Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Planned Parenthood's abortions have increased in Minnesota by 25%, said Ruth Richardson, a former state legislator who leads Planned Parenthood North Central States. Out-of-state abortion patients have doubled since the Supreme Court decision. The Planned Parenthood clinic in Uptown has increased its capacity for abortions by 50%, adding seven exam rooms and one more day per week for abortion appointments.

Like Walz, Richardson hopes a constitutional amendment will gain traction in Minnesota.

"Much like anything with the Legislature, you never know what's going to happen until it's over," she said. "But nationally we have seen the trends towards putting this toward the people: We win. Here, no different: The majority of people support access to abortion care."