Overturning Roe v. Wade won't do a 'damn thing' to prevent abortions, Walz says
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz restated his opposition to the Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion, saying it doesn’t do a “damn thing” to stop them from happening.
Walz spoke to reporters Saturday after signing an executive order protecting the right to an abortion in Minnesota. The order protects abortion rights in the state as well as those who come from out of state seeking an abortion.
Walz said the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade wouldn’t prevent abortions but instead make them more dangerous.
“The decision yesterday didn’t do a damn thing to prevent abortions,” he said.
“All it did was make it more dangerous and less accessible, especially to the people who need it. [The order] states that we will use all authority of this office to decline to extradite people who are charged under other states’ laws that criminalize providing or obtaining reproductive health care services.”
Walz ordered state agencies to not assist with investigations or criminal proceedings stemming from people coming from another states for an abortion. It also states Minnesota won’t extradite those people.
With Roe v. Wade overturned, Minnesota is poised to become an island in the Midwest for accessing legal abortions. South Dakota had a “trigger law” in place that immediately banned abortions in the state following the decision, while North Dakota’s law means abortion will be banned there in the next 30 days.
Iowa’s Republican-controlled government is also likely to institute restrictions or bans, while in Wisconsin uncertainty around what could happen has resulted in many doctors halting abortions, according to the Washington Post.
Minnesota’s Supreme Court ruled to protect abortion access in 1995 in the Doe v. Gomez case. In addition to ensuring the right to an abortion, the case also allows low-income people to use state assistance money to pay for the procedure.
While Walz has vowed to keep abortion legal in Minnesota, GOP-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen has previously said he would completely ban abortion in the state without exceptions for rape or incest. Jensen said the only exception for abortions would be if the mother’s life was in danger.
Instead, Jensen would "seek out loving and caring alternatives like universal adoption, family planning measures to prevent pregnancies and policies like counseling and alternative referrals, medical assistant and other measures that value people – both born and unborn."
