It’s time to UnRestrict Minnesota.
UnRestrict Minnesota works to protect, expand, and destigmatize access to abortion care—and all reproductive healthcare—in Minnesota through public education, advocacy, and the law.
Our vision is to achieve full reproductive justice, an organizing framework created by Black women where every person has the ability to decide if, when, and how to become a parent; raise healthy children in safe and thriving communities;and have gender freedom and bodily autonomy.
We are led by a multi-racial coalition of LGBTQ+ advocates, faith communities, clinicians, activists, doctors, abortion funds, lawyers, organizers, healthcare clinics, doulas, podcasts, and more. Learn more about our partners.
UnRestrict Minnesota is supported by the team at Gender Justice. Meet the team.
The Minnesota Constitution and Supreme Court rulings guarantee and protect people’s right to decide to end a pregnancy and to get abortion care without the government trying to sway them one way or another. Moreover, nearly ¾ of Minnesotans across the state agree with a person’s right to access abortion care. It’s time that our laws match our Constitution and the beliefs of Minnesotans!
As attacks on access to safe, legal, and essential reproductive health care sweep through the country, now is the time to fight to protect and expand reproductive rights, freedom, and justice in Minnesota. Get involved now!
A district court has struck down many abortion restrictions in our lawsuit.
In 2019, a coalition of Minnesota advocates, including two health care providers, the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, and Our Justice, filed a lawsuit challenging a number of abortion restrictions currently on the books in Minnesota. The plaintiffs are represented by Minnesota legal and policy advocacy organization Gender Justice and The Lawyering Project. The lawsuit, Doe v. Minnesota, argued that these restrictions harmed patients and were unconstitutional.
In July 2022, just weeks after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a state district court judge agreed in large part, ruling that many of Minnesota’s abortion restrictions violated the right to an abortion under the Minnesota Constitution, as well as other constitutional provisions. The court further held that the Minnesota Constitution protects not just a fundamental right to choose abortion, but also a fundamental right to access abortion care.
The Minnesota Supreme Court has long recognized abortion access as a fundamental right. Yet our state still had laws on the books that:
- Restrict access to abortion and other reproductive health services
- Are out-of-step with contemporary medical practice
- Reflect antiquated views about women’s role in society
These laws disproportionately harm low-income people, people of color and indigenous/Native American people, immigrants, people who lack health insurance, and other marginalized groups. They also fail to honor the diverse religious traditions of Minnesotans.
The lawsuit aimed to do the following:
- Ensure our state has a system of just laws that uphold the rights and dignity of all Minnesotans
- Protect everyone’s access to high-quality reproductive and sexual healthcare
- Strike down or prohibit the state from enforcing these restrictions
Let’s remove politics from our health care!
What Minnesotans are saying…
Abortion care is healthcare. Women are capable of making decisions about their bodies.
Sherri
Abortion is healthcare, full stop. Antiquated, extreme restrictions are not about safety or saving lives, they are about power and control over women’s bodies and lives.
Claire – St. Paul, MN
I want my children to decide when they are ready to be parents. When they are adults that are emotionally, physically & financially ready is a great time!
Leah
It’s not the government’s job to restrict our bodies. Bodily autonomy is a principle freedom.
Brynn
My abortion was where I took action, where I made the best decision for me and my family.
Elizabeth – Minneapolis, MN
I’m 56 but I want my younger sisters to have the choice! No one should tell a woman what she can do with HER BODY!!
Diane
Meet our community partners.
A multi-racial coalition of LGBTQ+ advocates, faith communities, clinicians, activists, doctors, abortion funds, lawyers, organizers, healthcare clinics, doulas, podcasts, and more have come together to support every Minnesotan’s right to make their own decision about whether and when to become a parent.
Learn more about each of our partner organizations, their missions, and how you can support their work.
This project is funded in part by the Unitarian Universalist Fund for a Just Society.