Roe v. Wade is in Jeopardy: We must pass the PRO Act
By Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund, Inc. | July 8, 2021, 9:19 p.m.
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This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear its first major abortion case since conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett filled the seat of reproductive freedom advocate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Court will review a blatantly unconstitutional 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi, which is currently blocked by the lower courts. It is expected to rule on this case in 2022. If it allows the ban to take effect, it could have devastating consequences for abortion access across the country and in our state.
This is the moment that anti-abortion politicians have been waiting for: by taking up this case, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority is seizing their opportunity to challenge Roe v. Wade and chip away at abortion access.
So, what does this mean for Minnesota? We must take action now.
While Planned Parenthood champions have fought back abortion bans in recent years, our state is not immune. During just the 2021 legislative session, anti-abortion politicians proposed four abortion bans! Should legislative power flip, health care access in Minnesota could change drastically.
When anti-abortion politicians have the majority, abortion rights are eliminated. Just look at our neighbors. South Dakota passed a trigger law that would outright ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned, and Iowa anti-abortion legislators are currently working to strip Iowans of the right to safe, legal abortion in their state constitution.
With Roe v. Wade in jeopardy, Minnesota needs to protect our reproductive freedom at the state level and pass the Protect Reproductive Options Act (PRO). The PRO Act ensures that all Minnesotans have the right to make their own reproductive health care decisions, by:
- Establishing the fundamental right of Minnesotans to make individual decisions about reproductive health care, including contraception, abortion, and pregnancy.
- Preventing politicians from interfering with a person’s fundamental right to make their own reproductive health care decisions.
Minnesotans want healthy communities. We want bodily autonomy. And we want reproductive freedom. While the PRO Act did not pass this session, advocates will keep fighting until it does.
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