Minnesota Democrats are poised to ignore the at least 69 percent of Americans who say they want significant limits on abortion to pass the state’s most radical abortion bill, which would legalize taxpayer-funded on-demand abortion for all.
The Protect Reproductive Options Act (PROA), the first bill Democrats introduced in both the state House and Senate this session, would repeal dozens of the state’s protections for women and babies and expand legal immunity for abortions up until the moment of birth and beyond.
The bill is eagerly supported by Planned Parenthood and its allies in the press and the Biden administration, but legal experts say it goes “far beyond any interpretation of the Minnesota Supreme Court case Doe v. Gomez,” the state’s version of Roe v. Wade.
“Cattle and reptiles will have more legal protections in Minnesota than Minnesota’s vulnerable preborn children. Legal penalties for animal cruelty in Minnesota range from misdemeanor up to a felony while there is no criminal penalty for leaving a preborn child to die on a cold metal table,” Renee Carlson, general counsel at True North Legal, said in remarks to the Senate ahead of the vote.
That doesn’t matter to state legislators, who could vote on the bill in the Minnesota House as soon as Thursday. If passed by both chambers, the legislation will head to Democrat Gov. Tim Walz’s desk, where he is expected to sign it into law.
Ends Protections for Babies Born Alive
Minnesota law recognizes babies who are born alive following a botched abortion as “a human person under the law.” The Born Alive Infants Protection Act reconfirmed these babies deserve and receive life-saving medical care.
The PROA, however, terminates the protections outlined for a baby who “breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, regardless of whether the umbilical cord has been cut, and regardless of whether the expulsion or extraction occurs as a result of a natural or induced labor, cesarean section, or induced abortion.”
Lifts Prohibitions on Taxpayer-Funded Abortions
Current statute bars Minnesota from funneling taxpayer dollars to any nonprofit that offers abortions. It also prohibits grants for “family planning services” targeted at “any unemancipated minor in any elementary or secondary school building.”
The PROA explicitly abolishes provisions that shield taxpayers from funding abortion for all through all nine months of pregnancy.
Nullifies Parental Notification
If a minor requests an abortion, Minnesota law requires that parents or guardians be notified before she goes through with it. Females who do not want to notify their parents of their intent to abort may request a bypass from a judge who can deem the pregnant girl as “mature and capable of giving informed consent to the proposed abortion.”
This legislation nullifies those requirements, however, which opens the door for minors to get abortions whenever they want without permission.
Cancels Protections for ‘Viable’ Preborn Babies
“Viable” as defined in Minnesota law means “able to live outside the womb even though artificial aid may be required,” which could be as early as “the second half of [the] gestation period.” The PROA doesn’t just rid the state of that definition in an attempt to expand abortion for all through birth. It also quashes provisions that abortions performed beyond the first trimester must be done in hospitals and only executed if a mother’s life is at risk.
Reverses Ban on Abortions for Unconscious Women
Any woman receiving abortions in Minnesota, the law currently states, must be conscious and given a “full explanation of the procedure and effect of the abortion” beforehand. Under the PROA, neither of those conditions must be met to move forward with an abortion.
Halts Reporting If Women Die from Abortions
Abortions are not a safe procedure for the mother or baby, which is why Minnesota law requires abortionists to report if a woman dies due to abortion. Before the PROA, abortionists who failed to report the death of a woman “from any cause within 30 days of the abortion or from any cause potentially related to the abortion within 90 days of the abortion,” faced criminal charges and fines. Under the new legislation, abortionists will not be penalized for refusing to report abortion-related deaths.
Stops Reporting Abortion Stats Altogether
Not only will abortionists no longer be required to report deaths under the PROA, but they won’t have to disclose any of the legally mandated information about the number of abortions they performed, what methods they used, the gestational ages of the unborn babies who were dismembered, why the woman sought an abortion, or any other key information.
The state commissioner, also, is released by the PROA from publishing a public report with the state’s abortion data including how many out-of-state abortions were granted each year.
Repeals Felony Charges for Sale of Abortion Pill, Other Abortion-Inducing Devices
The PROA seeks to repeal the threat of criminal charges for anyone who manufactures, sells, or advertises abortion-inducing devices or drugs.
Allows the Unregulated Disposal of Baby Bodies
The PROA would rescind a statute that requires the remains of an aborted or miscarried baby in a medical facility to be properly and carefully handled and disposed of within the state. That means hospitals and abortion facilities would no longer be required to cremate or bury deceased infants as directed by the commissioner of health.
The bill also voids a portion of the statute that previously ordered “complete laboratory tests necessary for the health of the woman or her future offspring or for purposes of a criminal investigation or determination of parentage prior to disposing of the remains.”
Ends Informed Consent for Women
Minnesota statute 145.4242, also known as the “Woman’s Right to Know Act,” says women must be told the “particular medical risks associated with the particular abortion procedure,” the gestational age of the child, and, in the case of a late-term abortion, whether painkillers will be given to the unborn child during the abortion, and “what medical assistance benefits may be available for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care.” Women seeking abortions must also be provided “printed materials” and a website explaining the “services available to assist through pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood,” “fetal development,” and “fetal responsiveness to adverse stimuli.”
Before the PROA, this information had to be relayed by the abortionist at least 24 hours before a woman’s appointment. If the PROA passes, abortionists do not have to explain any abortion risks to the woman.
Expands Who Can Give Abortions
According to Minnesota statute 145.412, only licensed physicians may perform abortions in a designated facility such as a hospital or abortion facility using rules from the state commissioner of health as a guideline.
Before the PROA, violations of these regulations resulted in a felony. If the new legislation passes, violations of these statutes, including letting unlicensed abortionists perform the dangerous and fatal procedure, will no longer be considered criminal.
Childbirth No Longer State Policy
Minnesota’s state policy is that childbirth, as opposed to abortion, “is to be given preference, encouragement and support by law and by state action, it being in the best interests of the well-being and common good of Minnesota citizens.”
Passage of the PROA will change the state’s policy from pro-life to pro-abortion.
