June 23, 2023 | Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS — On the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision, protection for vulnerable human life is increasing nationwide even as lawmakers in Minnesota have enacted an extreme abortion-up-to-birth policy. The Dobbs ruling, handed down on June 24, 2022, overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the Court’s five-decade imposition of abortion-on-demand.
“Dobbs was a landmark decision abiding by the Constitution, respecting democracy, and allowing human rights to advance across the nation,” said MCCL Co-Executive Director Cathy Blaeser. “It empowers the American people to safeguard unborn children and their mothers—to include every member of our human family within the law’s protection—and many states are doing just that.”
Twenty-five states now have laws protecting unborn children at or before 12 weeks. Estimates indicate that tens of thousands of lives have been saved since Dobbs.
This year in Minnesota, however, narrow legislative majorities and Gov. Walz pushed through a number of extreme laws. They enshrined a “fundamental right” to abortion up to birth, repealed a program providing support for pregnant women who want to carry their children to term, and even eliminated a provision ensuring that reasonable measures are taken to save the lives of born-alive infants.
“Lawmakers have saddled Minnesota with inhumane policies at odds with the views of most Minnesotans, most of the country, and most of the world,”said Blaeser. “But pro-life Minnesotans will continue working, harder than ever, to build a state where all human beings are valued and where mothers receive the support and love they need.”
Two Minnesota polls in 2022 (a KSTP/Survey USA poll and a Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 poll) showed that only 30 percent of Minnesotans support our state’s current policy of abortion-on-demand with no protections for unborn children. A nationwide NPR/PBS/Marist poll in 2023, meanwhile, found that just 22 percent of Americans favor this policy.