Hennepin County Attorney: My office won't prosecute those seeking abortions from out of state

Freeman announced the new policy Friday alongside other leaders.

Author:
BringMeTheNews
Publish date:
Oct 22, 2022

Freeman announced the new policy Friday alongside other leaders.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced a new policy Friday aimed at protecting people coming to Minnesota from out-of-state to seek an abortion.

The new policy, which Freeman rolled out alongside Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Sen. Tina Smith, establishes that the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office won’t use its resources to prosecute crimes relating to “providing, seeking, or obtaining an abortion.”

By law, an out-of-state warrant means the individual must be arrested. But in cases relating to abortion from a state that has banned them, Freeman says his office will seek a quick hearing and release.

“If it is for allegedly obtaining an abortion illegally or for providing services, we will file a fugitive warrant, we will insist on an immediate hearing, we will ask for no bail and we will anticipate the individual being released,” Freeman said.

The announcement drew praise from Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States.

“Abortion care is health care. Abortion is a personal decision between a patient and doctor. It is not political, and no one should go to jail for getting an abortion or providing abortion care,” Richardson said in a statement.

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade last summer, at least 13 states have established laws that ban most abortions, according to a New York Times update from last week.

Those states include the neighboring states of South Dakota and Wisconsin, where the bans do not include exceptions for rape or incest. In Wisconsin, the Democratic governor and attorney general have filed a lawsuit attempting to block the ban.

In Minnesota, the right to an abortion is protected by the state Supreme Court's 1995 Doe v. Gomez ruling, but some Republicans in the state have suggested potential restrictions on abortion access in the event they win control of the Legislature and governor's house in the Nov. 8 elections.