Minnesota abortion clinics brace for influx of women from out of state

ST PAUL, Minn. — While we wait to find out if the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion clinics in Minnesota are preparing for an influx of women from other states. Planned Parenthood North Central States President and CEO Sarah Stoesz officially declared Wednesday that if it is overturned, Minnesota would be a “haven” and a “safe place” for women seeking to terminate their pregnancies.

“Wisconsin’s pre-Roe ban would go into effect,” Stoesz said. “In Iowa, lawmakers and the governor are seeking to restrict access to abortion there… Therefore, people would come to Minnesota for abortion services.”

13 states already have “activation bans,” including North and South Dakota. That is, if the Supreme Court overturns the landmark case, abortion would be banned almost immediately in those states.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, Facilities offering abortions in Minnesota include Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, Robbinsdale Clinic, Whole Women’s Health LLC, Women’s Health Center, and 13 independent physicians. The data shows that abortions occurred 9,108 times at the listed facilities in 2020.

“We’ve been strengthening our delivery system for some time now so that we can be ready to take in what we think could be anywhere up to maybe 25 percent more patients,” Stoesz said. “We really don’t know. There are a number of models that we’ve been looking at and working on to try to predict what kind of infrastructure we need to build. So we’re building it to be able to take in as many people as we can from other states, that’s our obligation and we are proud to do so”.

Stoesz shared the screen of the virtual press conference with Attorney General Keith Ellison. He stressed that abortion will remain legal in Minnesota.

“The right to abortion and to make your own reproductive health care decisions is protected by the 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court decision called the Gomez case,” Ellison said.

Governor Tim Walz also issued a statement Wednesday promising to protect abortion rights. “Let me be clear: There will never be an abortion ban in Minnesota under my watch,” Walz said.

Back on the call, Ellison questioned how other states would enforce their laws.

“Are we going to see arrests and convictions of women who choose to terminate a pregnancy? What if they abort in Minnesota and come back to Texas? Will that constitute a crime in Texas? I mean, these are questions that need to be answered, we thought they were resolved,” he said.

“Not only would that person be prosecuted, but also our doctors and, you know, anyone who helped them,” Stoesz added. “It remains to be seen whether something like this would be upheld by the United States Supreme Court.”

Illinois, New York, California and Colorado could also become so-called islands or safe havens where women travel for abortions if Roe v. Wade.