British stone.PAUL, Minn. (AP) — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visited Minnesota on Thursday for a visit to the Midwest Affirm the promise of the Biden administration Despite the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the right to abortion still exists.
Becerra went to a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in St. Paul before appearing at a news conference with Gov. Tim Walz and Democratic legislative leaders shortly before debate began in the Minnesota House of Representatives on the fast track bill arrive codification of abortion rights Enter the National Statue.
“At a time when going backwards seems more important than anything else, you’re going to make history,” Becerra said. “It’s a great day in Minnesota.”
Becerra’s visit was made three days in advance Sunday’s 50th anniversary Decision in Roe v. Wade, which established the state’s right to abortion the supreme court withdrew in June. The Biden administration used the anniversary to show that Democrats have not given up on the issue, even as the fight shifts from a divided Congress to state legislatures.
“It’s time to follow Minnesota’s lead and do what’s right for all Americans,” Becerra said.
The secretary plans to travel to neighboring Wisconsin on Friday to visit a Planned Parenthood clinic in the Milwaukee suburb of Cudahy, which lost its right to offer abortions because Statewide ban lifted into law and held a roundtable in Milwaukee on reproductive health with Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin.
Abortion rights are already broadly protected in Minnesota, based on a 1995 state Supreme Court ruling declaring that abortion rights are protected by the state constitution. But Democratic legislative leaders cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning decision last summer, rush to pass statutory protection to ensure that future Minnesota courts cannot undo them at the state level.
Democrats House Speaker Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park and Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic of Minneapolis both said they had the votes to pass the bill. The Senate version, which passed the committee’s final test on Wednesday, could be approved as early as next week, though Dziedzic declined to say when.
“This is not just an abortion bill,” Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, D-N. Eden Prairie, said at the start of the debate, which is expected to continue into the evening. “It does guarantee the fundamental right of every Minnesotan to make personal and private decisions about their reproductive health. What it does not do is change the current state of reproductive freedom in Minnesota. It is a secondary protection of the constitutional liberties we currently enjoy .”
But Republican Rep. Jim Nash of Waconia called it “the most extreme abortion bill in the whole of America. It has zero guardrails — zero guardrails.”
Catholic bishops in Minnesota are urging lawmakers to vote against the bill, as well as separate legislation still going through committee proceedings, that would remove a range of abortion restrictions from state statutes judge declares unconstitutional in July. Taken together, the bills would leave Minnesota with few restrictions on abortion.
“We are disappointed to see the speed with which these damaging bills are moving forward, and we want to give lawmakers pause,” the bishops wrote. “When considering policy on any issue, we must consider all those who will be affected. . In this case, that includes mothers, fathers and especially unborn babies whose lives have been taken from them.”
Legislative leaders hope to have the bill on Walz’s desk by the end of the month for his promised signature.Democratic leaders think The validity of the abortion rights issue and their Takeover of the Minnesota State Senate in the November elections.
Walz pledged that women from Minnesota, where abortion is banned, would be welcomed and protected.
“This legislation will make Minnesota a shining beacon, an island in the upper Midwest,” Walz said.
