Where Minnesota’s Border States Stand on Abortion

After the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling that was announced on Friday, effectively overturning Roe v. Wade, Minnesota and Illinois are now the only states in the Midwest where abortion rights are part of their state constitutional law. 

On Saturday, Governor Tim Walz signed an executive order that will offer legal protection to people from out of state who come to Minnesota seeking reproductive health services. 

Planned Parenthood projects the percentage of out-of-state patients seeking abortions in Minnesota could jump to 25 percent of all cases.

“We continue to intend to be the good neighbor that we have always been to others in surrounding states,” said Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, in a news conference. “A good neighbor to the north, the east and the west, and we will be welcoming people here in Minnesota.”

Currently, there are eight clinics in Minnesota where abortions are performed, most located in the Twin Cities area. The Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo, North Dakota, is planning to move across the border into Moorhead.

Here’s where abortion laws stand after the Dobbs v. Jackson in Minnesota’s border states.

Wisconsin

As of Friday, no Wisconsin clinics are providing abortions.

The state’s 173-year-old abortion ban is once again in effect, making the procedure illegal unless deemed necessary by a doctor to save a patient’s life. Providing an abortion is a felony punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s medical director Kathy King told the Associated Press that the agency had to cancel nearly 70 abortion procedures scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

Wisconsin’s democratic governor vowed to grant clemency to any doctors charged under the state abortion ban over the weekend.

“I don’t think that a law that was written before the Civil War, or before women secured the right to vote, should be used to dictate these intimate decisions on reproductive health,” Evers said at a rally during Wisconsin’s Democratic Party convention on Saturday.

Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature is unlikely to repeal or amend the law. 

North Dakota

North Dakota’s attorney general Drew Wigley announced this week that North Dakota’s trigger laws on abortion will remain intact.

These laws will ban abortion in North Dakota, with exceptions for rape, incest, and preserving the life of the mother. In addition, they will ban the dilation and evacuation abortion methods except in medical emergency.

The laws will go into effect on July 28. Local state attorneys will prosecute abortion cases as a Class C felony that carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

North Dakota’s only clinic that provides abortion services, the Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo, is planning a move to Moorhead, Minnesota.

South Dakota

Abortions are now criminal acts in South Dakota, and the state’s 2005 trigger law went into effect immediately after the Supreme Court decision, without further action required. 

The law only allows exceptions if the life of the pregnant person is at risk, and does not make exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest. Any doctor who performs an abortion will be prosecuted.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem defended her state’s trigger law on Sunday. Noem said that in the case of rape or incest, she does not believe one tragedy is “a reason to have another tragedy occur.”

In March, Noem signed a bill into law that restricted access to medication abortion by requiring that women make at least three trips to a clinic to obtain the drugs. However on Friday, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that states many not ban Mifepristone, a FDA-approved drug that is used together with a second medication to induce an abortion within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Noem said on Sunday that she will work to restrict women’s access to abortion pills.

Iowa

Abortion remains legal in Iowa following the U.S. Supreme Court decision, but the Iowa Supreme Court ruled June 17 that the state constitution does not protect a fundamental right to abortion, overturning its own 2018 precedent.

This, along with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn landmark abortion rights cases, paves the way for anti-abortion lawmakers in Iowa to pass new restrictions on the procedure without the courts blocking them.

State law currently forbids abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and patients are required to undergo an ultrasound to determine the gestational age of the fetus before receiving an abortion.

At this time, it is not clear what legal standard Iowa courts will apply when considering whether new restrictions on abortion are constitutional, but the court said June 17 it is open to reconsidering the legal standard in a future case. 

Republicans in the state aim to further restrict abortion in Iowa, although specific plans remain unclear. Previously, Iowa has passed legislation that requires a three-day waiting period and to prohibit abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.

As for now, Planned Parenthood North Central States will remain open and continue offering services, but it is unclear how long this will last.