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2022 Elections

UnRestrict Minnesota Action Brought Voters to the Polls for Abortion Access

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2022

CONTACT
Erin Hart
erin.hart@genderjustice.us
(508) 250-7621

St. Paul, MN (November 9, 2022): Today, tens of thousands of voters across Minnesota are celebrating the first pro-reproductive freedom majorities ever elected to the state legislature.

One thing is clear: Minnesotans went to the polls for reproductive freedom. Resoundingly, the message from voters was that abortion matters. Abortion is healthcare. And abortion access is an issue that turns out voters across the country. The nationwide fury at having the federal right to abortion ripped away by a newly-formed, activist Supreme Court was real and did not abate over time. Months after Roe was overturned, voters re-elected Governor Tim Walz and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan and elected majorities who support abortion access to the Minnesota House and Senate including 40 members of the bicameral Reproductive Freedom Caucus, the legislature’s largest issue-focused caucus.

Voters sent a strong message that our right to bodily autonomy belongs to all of us – and not to politicians.

Buoyed by the success of the lawsuit blocking Minnesota’s onerous abortion restrictions – and responding to the national public healthcare crisis unleashed by the Dobbs decision – Gender Justice Action launched a new political program, UnRestrict Minnesota Action.

UnRestrict Minnesota Action was on the phone and at the doors to help turn out record numbers of Minnesotans to vote this year. Our organizing team knocked on doors in key districts to reach Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and Asian Minnesotans, voters aged 18-29, renters, and Minnesotans who don’t always show up on election day.

“We spoke to thousands of voters in key swing districts, where victories were decided by hundreds of votes and helped register new voters,” said Abena Abraham, Campaign Director of UnRestrict Minnesota Action. “Our conversations laid the groundwork for transformative long-term grassroots organizing and community relationships that will carry into the next legislative session. Today, we celebrate these wins with gratitude and hope for a future where all Minnesotans can determine their own reproductive lives.”

With a historic “trifecta” in place, UnRestrict Minnesota and UnRestrict Minnesota Action will bring our power of public education and organizing to advance the Minnesota Beyond Roe: Leadership Agenda for Abortion Access. This roadmap for expanding abortion access in our state will repeal abortion restrictions, protect patients and providers, and ensure affordability for everyone who needs care here.

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