Minnesota governor signs ‘PRO Act,’ legalizing abortion up to birth

by Jacob Fuller

Curt Flewelling, FISM News

On Tuesday, Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz signed into law H.F. 1, the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act. The law states that it protects Minnesotans’ right to contraception, the right to carry a pregnancy to term, and the right to abortion, and ensures the right to privacy for personal reproductive health decisions.

“Your access to reproductive health and your right to make your own health care decisions are preserved and protected. And because of this law, that won’t change with the political winds or makeup of the Supreme Court,” the governor said at the signing ceremony.

The bill’s sponsor, State Senator Jennifer McEwen (D), was elated by the signing.

“The reversal of Roe made Minnesotans afraid to see the same thing happen in their state at some point in the future,” McEwen said.

Not everyone is happy with the new legislation, which makes it legal for women to abort their children up to the moment of birth. Concerned Citizens for Life co-executive director Cathy Blaeser is deeply troubled by the new law.

“Minnesotans don’t support elective third-trimester abortion. They just don’t. But that’s what this extreme bill entrenches in our state law,” Blaeser said.

The director’s assertion may not be far off, even if Minnesota is a blue state. A recent Knights of Columbus-Marist Poll reflected that nearly 80% of Americans do not want abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy.

The fact that 61% of respondents were pro-choice and 69% of that group wants abortion to be significantly restricted, may support Blaeser’s claim.

She went on to say, “H.F. 1 gives anyone the right to abort any baby for any reason at any time up to birth. Under this bill, even babies who are old enough to live outside the womb and to feel excruciating pain have no protection from lethal violence.”

The fate of the bill was virtually guaranteed as Democrats took control of the state senate by one vote last November and preserved their six-vote majority in the House as well. Many blue states have proposed and passed similar laws in response to the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision last year.

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