Minnesota House passes bill that shields abortion providers, out-of-state patients
The Minnesota House of Representatives voted 68-62 Monday for a bill that would offer legal protections to patients who travel to Minnesota for an abortion and the providers that treat them.
State leaders have said they are taking steps to offer those legal defenses now but DFL lawmakers at the Capitol said it was important to guarantee the protections in law.
“The overturning of Roe v Wade has led to harmful laws attacking not only abortion rights, but also individual liberties and privacy more broadly,” the bill’s author Rep. Esther Agbaje, DFL-Minneapolis, said. “This bill ensures that Minnesotans can do what is legal and exercise their rights in Minnesota without the threat of prosecution from other states.”
If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would prevent state courts or officials from complying with extraditions, arrests or subpoenas related to reproductive health care that a person receives in Minnesota.
Minnesota would join seven other states that shield patients and providers against legal penalties in other states when it comes to accessing reproductive health care here.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/03/20/minnesota-house-passes-bill-that-shields-abortion-providers-outofstate-patients
