ST PAUL, Minn. — A year after sweeping legislative victories, supporters of women's reproductive rights are pressing for more legislation at the Minnesota State Capitol
The legislature’s Reproductive Freedom Caucus this week laid out its wish list, which includes a constitutional amendment guaranteeing reproductive healthcare rights.
"We envision a future for Minnesota in which everyone without exception can shape and realize their reproductive future and destiny," Rep. Kaohly Vang Her, a St. Paul Democrat, told reporters.
"We believe every person has the right to have, or not have children and to build the families and raise the children they do have in safe, sustainable thriving communities."
Governor Walz last year signed the PRO Act, making Minnesota a refuge for legal abortions in the wake of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision that nullified Roe v Wade and left that issue for states to decide.
This year Democrats are looking to require insurance carriers to cover the cost of abortions.
"The fact that some plans cover abortion services, and some don't, is part of a pattern of discrimination and politicizing of health care that Minnesotans have said loud and clear they will not tolerate," Sen. Alice Mann, an Edina Democrat and physician, asserted.
"Reproductive care is health care!"
Members of the caucus also pointed to bills they passed last year granting legal protections for those seeking and providing abortions. Another caucus priority was the Trans Refuge Act, which set up Minnesota as an oasis for those seeking gender-affirming healthcare services.
Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd of Children’s Minnesota said there aren’t enough providers to keep up with the demand for gender-affirming care, which is why she supports legislation that would set up training grants for medical professionals who want to pursue that field.
"This care is not new. This care is not experimental. This care is age-appropriate and provided with parental consent."
The group is also looking for changes in state law to make it easier for women of color to become midwives. Rebecca Polston of the Roots Community Birth Center said increasing the supply of Black midwives would bring down the number of pregnancy complications for BIPOC women.
"I also want to talk about the number 16. That's how many Black midwives there are in Minnesota. And I'm one of them."
DFL Rep. Esther Abaje of Minneapolis noted the disparities in women's health outcomes are glaring.
"Black women are three times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related complications and face barriers to accessing quality post-natal care."
Democrats want to put the Equal Rights Amendment on the ballot so the gains they’ve made will be harder for a future legislature to undo. In addition to affirming women’s equality under the law, it would also guarantee the right to abortions and transgender rights.
"Reproductive freedom equals trans liberation," Rep. Leigh Finke, a St. Paul Democrat and the first transgender state lawmaker in history, asserted. "This amendment would constitutionally protect the rights of women, the right to reproductive freedom, the right to gender-affirming care, and the right of intersex individuals."
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson of East Grand Forks issued the following statement in response:
"A statewide constitutional amendment should unite people, not divide them. The previous ERA version did have support from some Republicans, but stitching every issue into one Frankenstein ballot question is divisive and political, and it will come back to haunt them. Minnesotans value consensus and it’s unfair and inappropriate to engage in such brazen political gamesmanship with the state constitution."
Supporters of the ERA have gone back and forth on whether to put the proposed amendment on the ballot in 2024 or hold off to give proponents more time to organize a campaign for it. DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman has said the ERA is one of her top priorities this session. She expects the legislature to pass the proposed amendment this session and, in that bill, set the date for the 2026 General Election.