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First Hearing on Reproductive Freedom Defense Act this Thursday

UnRestrict Minnesota Applauds Bill Protecting Minnesota Citizens and Health Care Providers Against Out-of-State Anti-Abortion Legal Attacks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 25, 2023

CONTACT
Erin Hart, Communications Director
508.250.7621

Saint Paul, Minn.—The Reproductive Freedom Defense Act (HF366 / SF165) protects Minnesota health care providers and citizens against legal attacks and criminal penalties imposed by out-of-state anti-abortion politicians and activists.The bill gets its first hearing Thursday.

WHEN: Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 10:30 a.m.
WHAT: Reproductive Freedom Defense Act first hearing
WHERE: House Health Committee (SOB Room 5) or online
WHO: Chief Author Rep. Agbaje and Dr. Joseph Nelson, an M.D. and abortion provider will testify in support of the bill

“UnRestrict Minnesota applauds the introduction of the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act. Minnesotans are crystal clear about their support for abortion rights and access, not just for themselves and their neighbors, but also for people outside our state who need the kind of care that’s offered here,” said Abena Abraham, campaign director for UnRestrict Minnesota.

“The Reproductive Freedom Defense Act would enact strong protections for everyone seeking abortion care in Minnesota and the providers who care for them, safeguarding all from prosecution and other attacks under laws aimed at imposing other states’ restrictions on us.”

The Reproductive Freedom Defense Act is a key abortion rights bill advancing through the Legislature along with the Reproductive Freedom Codification Act (“Repealers”) that removes unconstitutional abortion restrictions from state law, and the PRO Act which is poised to pass the Senate on Friday.

Background

The US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade unleashed a flood of bills by anti-abortion lawmakers seeking not only to ban abortion in their own states, but also to reach across state lines, preventing people from traveling elsewhere to get the care they can’t get at home — and punishing those who provide abortion care and help people get it.

The Reproductive Freedom Defense Act would

  • Create strong protections for Minnesota’s own health care providers and citizens against legal attacks and criminal penalties imposed by anti-abortion extremists in other states.
  • Prevent our courts and institutions from being hijacked and weaponized in service of the anti-abortion agenda of people outside Minnesota.
  • Establish Minnesota as a refuge for those whose own state governments have sought to persecute and punish them for seeking to make and act on their own decisions about their pregnancies, their lives, their families, and their future.

According to polling conducted by PerryUndem in December 2022, three quarters of Minnesota voters support protections for abortion providers against legal action by other states that have banned abortion, as well as protections for people traveling from out-of-state to get abortion care in Minnesota.

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