UnRestrict Minnesota Week of Action

Monday, Nov 29 – Friday, Dec 3

On Wednesday, December 1st, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson, a case about an unconstitutional Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks. Abortion advocates and legal analysts have predicted that the majority-conservative Court will use this case to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that recognized our right to have an abortion before the point of “viability,” usually around 24 weeks.

This will be the first time the Court has heard arguments about a pre-viability abortion ban since it decided Roe v. Wade nearly 50 years ago. It could be one of the most critical days ever in our movement for abortion rights and access.

Minnesota could soon become the only state in the Upper Midwest where people can safely and legally access abortion care — but access remains too restricted to serve everyone who may come to our state seeking an abortion. We must act now.

Minnesota must move beyond Roe v. Wade

With abortion rights at risk, Minnesota must move beyond Roe v. Wade. Read about the likely impacts of Dobbs v. Jackson in this article in the Star Tribune. It was co-authored by Erin Maye Quade and Shayla Walker (Vision Realization Advisor, Our Justice and UnRestrict Minnesota Leadership Team Member).

“If the Supreme Court does overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing any state without legal protections for abortion to implement total or near-total abortion bans, this strain on health care resources will increase exponentially, further threatening access to abortion care even in states where abortion remains legal.

Minnesota will feel this pressure acutely. Every one of our neighbors in the Upper Midwest has a pre- or post-Roe abortion ban on their books, poised to take effect should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. That would make Minnesota, which protects the right to abortion in our state constitution, the only state in the region where people could seek safe and legal abortions.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that everyone who seeks an abortion in our state will be able to access care. For decades, even while Roe v. Wade has been the law of land, anti-abortion lawmakers have been quietly passing laws that restrict access to abortion care — an end-run around our legal rights. They have passed dozens of laws that make abortion care more scarce, more stigmatized, and more expensive, especially for pregnant people of color, young people, immigrants, LGBTQ people, people living in rural areas, people who are uninsured or underinsured, and people with lower incomes.”