Oh boy! This week the Vagical Mystery Tour goes to Minnesota, doncha know! Sure wish you could come with! You see, it’s something of a homecoming for LPJL founder Lizz Winstead, who hails from these parts, way back in the day. It’s the home of Minnesota nice, and they’ll be lot’s of that at the show in Minneapolis on July 26th.
But there’s a reason that so much of Fargo takes place in Minnesota—because there’s plenty of nuts to go along with that nice. And that’s why the State of Reproductive Rights in Minnesota is… right on the edge. In that sense, it’s just like the rest of America. And we’re here to help push them both in the right direction.
Ya see, Minnesota has this great Blue State reputation, and for sure, it’s earned it with a history of progressive leaders like Paul Wellstone. And for decades, the state has reliably tipped Democratic in national elections. But it hasn’t tipped by much. And in elections for state offices, the Red starts to show. Although the Governor is pro-choice, both the State Senate and House are considered to be anti-choice.
And fer sure, looking up a lot of the abortion rules in Minnesota make you think you typed in Missouri by accident. TRAP laws hamper the ability of clinics to operate. There’s a 24-hour waiting period during which the patient must be subjected to state-mandated barrage of lies, half-truths, propaganda, and shaming. Minors need to notify BOTH parents. And there’s even a 20-week abortion ban. On top of all that, the state supports many, manny FAKE clinics with taxpayer funds. NOT NICE, Minnesota!
So, no surprise that 95% of Minnesota counties, with 59% of the population, have no abortion provider. And the providers that manage to stick it out are just getting busier. For the first time in decades, the number of abortions in Minnesota has ticked up in the past two years. But about two-thirds of the increase is from non-residents coming from states like Iowa and Wisconsin where things are even worse.
Minnesota repro politics this election year resemble the situation in Washington in weird ways. The state House is heavily anti-choice, but vulnerable to being flipped. And the Senate (which was elected in 2016) is exactly evenly split, 33 to 33, with one empty seat to be filled in a special election this year. That means that one seat will mean the difference between a pro-choice or anti-choice Senate. Edge city, Minnesota!
Lucky for Minnesotans, they just gotta do the exact same thing to protect Roe v Wade on the national level and repro rights at the state level—GET OUT AND VOTE!
And that goes for all of us, no matter what state we’re from. We have to elect pro-choice people in Washington to safeguard the Supreme Court, and repro-friendly politicians at the state level to fight off the constant assaults on abortion rights. We have to bring this back from the edge, and we will. You betcha!
