What could governor’s race mean for abortion law? Candidates differ
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The two women vying to be Minnesota’s next governor said they won’t try to roll back Minnesota’s law guaranteeing the right to abortion access after the issue caused sparks in their only televised debate.
But they still come at it from far different vantage points.
The issue that was a dominant campaign theme in the last governor’s race in 2022 — in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade — hasn’t been a key focus this cycle. That’s because affordability, fraud, healthcare access and crime top Minnesota voters’ priority lists.
But that hasn’t stopped organizations focused on maintaining legal abortion access, as well as those aiming to restrict it, from spending in the race and trying to center the issue.
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Onstage in Rochester on Wednesday, Democrat Amy Klobuchar took her Republican Lisa Demuth to task for previously sponsoring legislation that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, often around six weeks after conception.
The 2021 proposal would have penalized medical providers that perform abortions after that point, unless it was done to save the life or prevent a serious health risk of the mother. Providers could face up to a year in prison, a $3,000 fine or both. The measure stalled in the DFL-led House.
“I don't think we want our first woman governor to be someone that has such an extreme view that would ban women's health care in the case of reproductive health care, with no exceptions for rape or incest, and send doctors to jail,” Klobuchar said. “It is in writing in her plan that is extreme, and we have enough extreme things in our politics right now. You may have different views on abortion, but not many people think we should send doctors to jail.”
Demuth emphasized that her bill stalled. She has cast the issue as a distraction and called abortion access in Minnesota “settled law.” She cited a 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that determined the state Constitution affords women the right to choose between terminating a pregnancy or carrying it to term.
“Abortion is settled here in the state of Minnesota, and I think Senator Klobuchar is looking for things that she can try to drive a wedge in,” Demuth said, reiterating that her bill “never went any place at all.”
Is Minnesota abortion law settled?
Earlier this year, Demuth touted her anti-abortion proposals as she worked to win over Republican voters ahead of the GOP state party convention. She landed the endorsement from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. The group spent $60,000 in the primary to help put her over the top and has money built up for the stretch run.
Abortion rights advocacy group Planned Parenthood’s various political funds have donated directly to Klobuchar’s campaign. Through early September, the group spent about $1,500 on campaign literature promoting Klobuchar independent of her campaign.
While the 1995 case offered state precedent, lawmakers from both parties have tried in recent years to rewrite Minnesota law related to abortion access. Following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a case known as Dobbs v. Jackson that overturned Roe, it became a central campaign issue for Democrats in Minnesota.
Voter frustration over that ruling helped give Minnesota Democrats control of all three levers of power there — the governor’s office, Senate and House.
For the first time, the state had a majority of lawmakers who support ensuring abortion access.
In 2023, Democratic majorities quickly used that power to pass legislation guaranteeing the right to reproductive care, including abortions. The law also extends legal protections to providers who practice here and patients who travel for care. Demuth, along with all Republicans and some House Democrats, voted against the law.
Jill Hasday, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, with background in constitutional and family law, said that while the 1995 state high court ruling offers direction to judges weighing abortion cases, it could change.
“As Dobbs illustrates, a court can adopt an opinion interpreting the constitution, and then a future court might change its mind,” Hasday said. “It's certainly possible that a future bench on the Minnesota Supreme Court could change its mind, just like Roe (v. Wade) was reversed at the federal level.”
Because DFLers have held the governor’s office for four consecutive terms, the state Supreme Court is now made up entirely of appointees of Democrats. While that doesn’t guarantee any outcome, it makes a dramatic change on abortion case decisions less likely.
The next governor isn’t assured any appointments in a first term because none of the current justices will reach the retirement age of 70 in the next four years. Justices often leave for other reasons on their own timetable, however.
Future legislators could seek to alter or repeal existing state laws around abortion. Federal courts have also been weighing abortion law cases that can have a bearing on the procedure.
DFL lawmakers have tried in recent legislative sessions to bring a proposed constitutional amendment to the ballot that would guarantee access to reproductive care, including abortion, as part of an equal rights amendment. They’ve so far come up short. If the amendment was adopted, it could cement the right to abortion access in a way courts or legislators couldn’t touch, unless voters opted to pull the language from the constitution.
No quick changes expected
Asked whether she wanted to change that 2023 law, Klobuchar told reporters it should be left intact.
“With everything going on around the country, I don’t think we should go back,” Klobuchar said.
When asked whether she’d try to alter the law, Demuth didn’t answer the question directly. She said abortion policy wouldn’t be a top concern.
“I think that we have enough things in our state that really rise to the level of needing help right away. We've got to look at those things first,” Demuth said. “We are going to be in a deficit eventually, if we keep going this way, there's overspending, and then of course the fraud. I think those are going to rise to the top of mind for all people.”
