For Immediate Release:
Join the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC) at 6pm on Wednesday, September 13th at 176 N Mississippi River Blvd, St Paul for the Expand Abortion Access Protest at Governor Walz’s Mansion. The MNAAC demands more money for more clinics to combat new national restrictions on abortion pills and access by mail. When Roe vs. Wade was overturned in June 2022, abortions medications like mifepristone and misoprostol were still available across the country thanks to the Food and Drug Administration’s approval, and have been distributed for use by telehealth appointments and through the mail. In the time since then, states with stricter abortion regulations and bans have been looking to pass, or have already passed, laws that would make it possible to prosecute those using abortion pills to self-manage abortions. While the majority of abortions are facilitated by the use of mifepristone, often referred to as the abortion pill, the Supreme Court will be looking to further restrict this access across the United States. SCOTUS has yet to rule on this case, though if the court rules it illegal, access to abortion pills could be heavily slashed even in states where abortion is completely legal, like Minnesota.
The Tim Walz administration has made great strides for abortion rights in Minnesota, with codifying abortion into the Minnesota state constitution and ending all state funds for crisis pregnancy centers, but this work needs to go further. Currently there are nine abortion clinics in the entire state of Minnesota, with one clinic being entirely online, while there are ninety crisis pregnancy centers with histories of lying, deceiving, and withholding information from patients in desperate need of medical attention.
In the year following Roe Vs. Wade’s overturn, Minnesota abortion clinics saw a 22% increase in abortions, with out of state abortions doubling. Minnesota is surrounded by states where abortion has been banned since 2022, and people are now turning to Minnesota for the healthcare they need. From 2022 to 2023, Iowa saw a 211% increase in people coming to Minnesota for abortions, while North Dakota saw a 365% increase, just to name a few examples. The majority of these out of state abortions were facilitated with the use of Mifepristone. This data should reveal that the need for expanded abortion care is now more crucial than ever, and that funding needs to be expanded to accommodate this influx of patients from surrounding states.