After the leak of a draft opinion on abortion by the U.S. Supreme Court, state leaders are trying to navigate what that potential overturning of Roe versus Wade could mean for Minnesota.
Governor Walz says although it will impact the Midterm Elections, he's more concerned how that ruling will affect women's rights, and further decisions by the high court.
“After this goes through, and it looks like it’s going to, we’re a fundamentally different country in terms of how women are going to self-determine what they’re going to do,” Walz says. “I think for many of us, the dangers that happened before Roe, the horrors that were there are real, and just concerned about what the Supreme Court will do next.”
Governor Walz told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News that many people anticipated that Roe might be overturned, but hearing that it's a real possibility was still shocking.
“I would assume on the political side there will be talk about this,” says Walz. “But I’m deeply concerned. Here in Minnesota we will make sure that women are respected and given that opportunity to make their own reproductive choices.”
One of the main GOP challengers to Walz in the race for governor is former state senator Dr. Scott Jensen. Jensen spoke to WCCO’s Chad Hartman on Wednesday and says he wants Minnesota to be a pro-life state.
“Any legislation that would come to my desk, I would sign it, to reduce or eliminate abortion,” says Jensen.
Jensen did say that he sees situations where medical exemptions should be made however. “If a mother’s life is in danger, I think that would have to be a medical consideration and an area for potential exemption.”
Other GOP candidates include former Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, who has previously been pro-life and declared in a Twitter post in 2020, “I believe we should protect human life from conception to natural death.”
Also running is Kendall Qualls who has described himself as pro-life, and said on Twitter this week, "As a Black man, abortion hits close to home."
The GOP state convention takes place May 13 and 14 in Rochester where state Republicans will choose a candidate to run against Walz.
During these midterms, all 201 legislative seats and the governor are up for election, which makes this a critical year for abortion rights if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. The legislature could technically bypass putting a law in front of the Governor by trying to add a constitutional amendment. That only takes a simple majority and would leave the question to voters across Minnesota.
There were similar amendments on the ballot in 2021 including one that banned gay marriage. That amendment failed to pass.
Minnesota's Senators, both Amy Klobuchar (D) and Tina Smith (D) have come out strongly against overturning Roe v. Wade.
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