Minnesota court rules state abortion laws unconstitutional News
© WikiMedia (Tony Webster)
Minnesota court rules state abortion laws unconstitutional

A Minnesota district court ruled Monday that state “abortion laws relating to mandated physician care, hospitalization, criminalization, parental notification, and informed consent are unconstitutional” under Minnesota’s State Constitution.

The court found that nine Minnesota laws violated the right to privacy and do not withstand judicial scrutiny. Additionally the court found that the state’s parental notification law violates the guarantee to equal protection and a mandatory disclosure law requiring physicians to disclose state-provided information to women seeking abortions violated the right to free speech.

Among the overturned laws were a physician-only law that required all abortions to be performed by physicians; a hospitalization law that required all abortions to be performed in a hospital; a mandatory disclosure law which required physicians to disclose certain state-provided information to women seeking abortions; a parental notification law that required physicians to notify both parents of a minor seeking an abortion; and a mandatory delay law that required a physician to delay an abortion at least 24 hours after the doctor gives the patient the mandatory disclosure.

The plaintiffs included a gynecologist, a certified midwife, and Our Justice, a nonprofit corporation that provides funding for abortions. Together they argued that the Minnesota laws were unconstitutional. After the court’s decision, Shayla Walker of Our Justice said “every piece of red tape matters for Minnesotans and people traveling to Minnesota for abortion care. Today’s ruling is an important step toward making abortion accessible to everyone who needs it.”