The 2020 Minnesota Legislative Session has started — and with the entire Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate on the ballot in 2020, the stakes for this session are high.
Last year, Planned Parenthood MN, ND, SD Action Fund had our most successful legislative session ever, with all three of our priority bills passing the Minnesota House. Led by fierce pro-choice champion Speaker Melissa Hortman – and with only the second pro-choice House majority in state history – the House passed our bills to protect and expand access to birth control, backfill lost federal Title X family planning funding and require that comprehensive sex education be taught in Minnesota schools.
Unfortunately, all of those common-sense priorities were blocked by the Republican-led, anti-abortion Minnesota Senate. Rather than supporting access to birth control, the GOP-led Senate instead passed bills to ban abortion and increased funding for fake women’s health clinics. Minnesotans deserve better.
Now, as we begin the 2020 Session that started on February 11th, PPMNS Action Fund is again working to make sure that Minnesotans have access to the sexual and reproductive health care they need.
Here's what we're fighting for:
1. Protect and Expand Access to Birth Control
We believe all people deserve access to birth control and contraceptives. To protect Minnesotans’ ability to plan their families and their futures by accessing the birth control method that is right for them, regardless of cost and free of political interference, we will fight to:
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require that state-regulated health plans cover FDA-approved contraceptives, counseling and follow-up services at no out-of-pocket cost; and
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allow patients to receive up to a full-year supply of oral contraceptives at one time, covered by insurance.
2. Support Comprehensive Sex Education
We believe everyone deserves access to medically-accurate, culturally-specific, and inclusive sexuality education. The Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund supports efforts to require that medically accurate, culturally specific sex education is taught in Minnesota schools.
3. Offset Trump Family Planning Cuts
The Trump Administration blocked Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers from participating in the federal Title X family planning grant program. This move jeopardizes access to birth control, STD testing and treatment, HIV testing, and breast and cervical cancer screenings for approximately 53,000 Minnesotans across 31 clinic sites throughout the state.
To help ensure that low-income Minnesotans continue to receive the vital reproductive health services they need, we will work to increase funding for a state family planning grant to offset the loss of Title X funding.
Now is the Time
And passing these bills is more important than ever:
- the Trump Administration wants to allow bosses to decide whether their employees’ insurance can cover birth control;
- all health care benefits under the ACA are at risk of going away if the Supreme Court rules in favor of a partisan fight to again overturn the ACA;
- the Supreme Court will have the option of gutting or overturning Roe v Wade this spring;
- abortion bans are sweeping the country.
Now is the time to act to protect and expand access to comprehensive reproductive health care in Minnesota.
Get Involved
Help us work to pass these proactive policy measures to ensure that every Minnesotan has access to high quality and affordable health care. Sign up to volunteer or join our mailing list to stay informed about this important work. Once you sign up, we’ll send you the most up-to-date information about legislation and policy related to reproductive health and rights, opportunities to get involved, and ways to take action. You can also stay in the know by following us on social media:
With engaged supporters like you, we are confident we can make our voice heard.
Tags: minnesota