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Political Updates
2013 Legislative Session
Due to the great work of NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota members and supporters, the 2012 elections brought many pro-choice victories, including the defeat of two freedom-limiting constitutional amendments in Minnesota. Despite the dramatic pro-choice victories on the federal level, however, the pro-choice gains in the Minnesota State Legislature leave reproductive rights on the defense. We now have a slim pro-choice majority in the Senate, and a mixed-choice House. The Senate picked up nine of the 11 pro-choice seats lost in the devastating 2010 election, while the house picked up 11 of the 17 pro-choice seats lost in 2010. With that in mind, we look forward to expanding healthcare access for all Minnesotans through the implementation of the Minnesota healthcare exchange while remaining vigilant of attacks on healthcare coverage and access throughout this legislative session.
Minnesota Healthcare Exchange (MnSure):
On March 20th, 2013, Governor Dayton signed the law creating a Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange, called MnSure, which is an historic move in health insurance reform, expanding health insurance access to over 300,000 previously uninsured Minnesotans.
NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota worked very hard at the Capitol over the past few months to make sure the implementation of MnSure did not move to limit access to reproductive health care that women and their families need. Whether a woman has private or government-funded health insurance, every woman should have coverage for a full range of pregnancy related care, including abortion.
In the first version of the bill, the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to remove existing coverage of reproductive healthcare by a vote of 71-58. The amendment to Minnesota’s health insurance exchange would have prohibited health insurance plans participating in the exchange from offering abortion coverage. The amendment would have also forced survivors of rape to report the rape to the government within 48 hours to ensure abortion coverage, while survivors of incest would be required to report the incident and relative to the government before obtaining an abortion to receive coverage. The amendment was removed in the conference committee.
The Senate version of the bill did not include any restrictions to abortion.
After these attempts by anti-choice legislators to ban insurance plans on the MnSure from including abortion coverage, NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota was successful in making sure the bill was clean – with no abortion coverage restrictions on the final bill that Governor Dayton signed.
Along with the health insurance exchange MnSure implementation, there are a number of other bills that expand health access for Minnesotans, and NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota is making sure that these bills work to protect women and their reproductive health care decisions. The Medical Assistance Expansion law just signed by Governor Dayton in February, and expands Medicaid eligibility to 35,000 low-income Minnesotans. Legislation has also been introduced to roll MinnesotaCare (which provides quality health insurance to Minnesotans who are low-income and do not have other insurance) into the Basic Health Plan, allowing MinnesotaCare to continue. Legislation has also been introduced to establish market rules for insurance plans, and making Minnesota law conform to federal law under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Law. NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota is watching these bills very closely to make sure no restrictions on access to reproductive health care are included.
State Budget:
As the Minnesota Legislature works on its budget for the next biennium, NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota will work to ensure funding for programs that promote reproductive health and prevent unintended pregnancies is maintained.
A continued investment into family planning programs that allow all Minnesota women the ability and autonomy to make decisions about when to start or expand their families is critical. Nearly a quarter million Minnesota women are in need of publicly supported family planning services. Family planning is one of the best investments of state funding - for every $1 spent on family planning, the state saves $4. These essential programs provide women and their families with the tools to plan their lives, and NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota urges continued investment in these programs and services.
A continued investment into family planning programs that allow all Minnesota women the ability and autonomy to make decisions about when to start or expand their families is critical. Nearly a quarter million Minnesota women are in need of publicly supported family planning services. Family planning is one of the best investments of state funding - for every $1 spent on family planning, the state saves $4. These essential programs provide women and their families with the tools to plan their lives, and NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota urges continued investment in these programs and services.
Family Cap:
As the law currently stands, the Family cap within the MFIP actively denies family support to low income children born to low income mothers. At all levels of our public policy work, NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota supports programs that allow women to make the reproductive health choices that are best for them and their families. This current law is a means of controlling those reproductive healthcare decisions and we believe that low income women deserve to have the support to deliver and raise children as every other Minnesotan does.
In addition, current statute also states that there are exceptions for coverage if "the child was conceived as a result of a sexual assault or incest, provided that the incident has been reported to a law enforcement agency.” This exception collides with personal privacy by requiring parents to disclose to the State of Minnesota how a child was conceived and their private reproductive choices.
Attacks on Choice
Limiting Access to Abortion Services
On Monday, April 22nd, the House of Representatives voted on two important pieces of legislation that NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota is following closely. There three anti-choice amendments were adopted which impede access to a woman’s reproductive health care options in Minnesota.
H.F. 779 is the bill aligning the Affordable Care Act into Minnesota law, and establishing market rules for health care insurance in Minnesota.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not require health insurance plans to offer abortion services, and, in fact, just like existing Minnesota law, allows health insurers participating in the Minnesota health insurance exchange to decide whether or not to provide coverage of abortion services.
The Affordable Care Act is a historic opportunity to enhance women’s health care coverage, including coverage of maternity care, cancer screenings, and birth control. It is not meant to take away coverage that women might have currently have today.
Even if Minnesota’s benchmark plan covers abortion services as an essential benefit, it does not function as a mandate on other plans participating in the Minnesota exchange. Other insurance plans will still decide whether or not to cover abortion services regardless of whether the benchmark plan offers abortion services. In fact, the Affordability Care Act specifies that one plan on the exchange must not offer abortion coverage. This amendment is nothing but an attempt to dictate to private insurances carriers what services they are allowed to offer in their plans, and is a blatant attack to eliminate coverage of basic reproductive health services for women in Minnesota.
Politicians should not interfere with a woman’s ability to make her own health care decisions. All health insurance plans, whether paid for by individuals, employers, or with government funds, should cover a full range of pregnancy-related care, including abortion.
H.F. 779 is the bill aligning the Affordable Care Act into Minnesota law, and establishing market rules for health care insurance in Minnesota.
- Representative Patti Fritz (DFL, 24B) offered amendment A13-0494 which unnecessarily restates existing law. It passed with a vote of 71-63.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not require health insurance plans to offer abortion services, and, in fact, just like existing Minnesota law, allows health insurers participating in the Minnesota health insurance exchange to decide whether or not to provide coverage of abortion services.
The Affordable Care Act is a historic opportunity to enhance women’s health care coverage, including coverage of maternity care, cancer screenings, and birth control. It is not meant to take away coverage that women might have currently have today.
- Representative Mary Liz Holberg (R, 58A) offered amendment A26 which specifically limits abortion coverage from the Essential Health Benefits (EHB) package, which serves as a benchmark plan for what is to be included in health care insurance coverage in Minnesota. The amendment states that "the essential health benefits package shall not include abortion coverage except where the life of the female would be endangered or substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function would result if the unborn child were carried to term; or where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.” It passed with a vote of 70-64.
Even if Minnesota’s benchmark plan covers abortion services as an essential benefit, it does not function as a mandate on other plans participating in the Minnesota exchange. Other insurance plans will still decide whether or not to cover abortion services regardless of whether the benchmark plan offers abortion services. In fact, the Affordability Care Act specifies that one plan on the exchange must not offer abortion coverage. This amendment is nothing but an attempt to dictate to private insurances carriers what services they are allowed to offer in their plans, and is a blatant attack to eliminate coverage of basic reproductive health services for women in Minnesota.
Politicians should not interfere with a woman’s ability to make her own health care decisions. All health insurance plans, whether paid for by individuals, employers, or with government funds, should cover a full range of pregnancy-related care, including abortion.
TRAP: Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers
- John Ward (DFL, 10A) offered amendment A13-0492, which is a Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) provision, based on H.F. 900 which he introduced earlier this session.
- In the Senate, Michelle Fischbach (R, 13) offered the TRAP amendment and it failed 30-35.
- With differences between the House and Senate bill, we are now working with the Conference Committee on H.F. 1233 to ensure the TRAP provision does not make it into the final version of the bill.
We’ve seen TRAP bills introduced in state legislatures across the union. While anti-choice forces claim this legislation is needed for women’s safety, it is in fact just another attempt to burden abortion providers and their patients. These laws impose unnecessary and burdensome regulations on abortion providers – but not other medical professionals. In the attempt to shut down medical professionals providing safe, legal abortion services, these laws make abortion care more expensive and difficult to obtain leaving women’s lives and safety at risk. While TRAP laws may seem innocuous or well-intentioned, they are politically motivated attempts to restrict women’s access to abortion.
The Senate introduced two additional anti-choice amendments to the HHS Omnibus bill, and they both failed.
- In 1995, the Minnesota State Supreme Court found that the state constitution provides greater protection for a woman’s right to choose than the federal Constitution. This ruling meant that the state’s public health coverage for low-income women cannot selectively discriminate as to which pregnancy-related services it will pay for. If the state will pay for childbirth, it must also pay for abortion services. On April 25th, 2013 Senator Torrey Westrom (R, 12) introduced an amendment to H.F. 1233 that would repeal this constitutional right. It failed 28-36.
- Senator Michelle Benson (R, 31) introduced a "refusal” amendment (sometimes called a "conscience” clause) that would permit a broad range of individuals– including any individual who is licensed to practice medicine, any nurse, nursing assistant, medical school student, professional, paraprofessional, or any other individual who provides or assists in the providing of health care services – to refuse to perform, recommend, refer, assist, receive or provide training for, prescribe or dispense health care. The methods/procedures outlined in this amendment include, but are not limited to, the prescribing and dispensing of contraceptives, or the participation in abortion, sterilization, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, hormone treatment, or surrogacy procedure. It failed 24-40.
NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota is working tirelessly at the Capitol to prevent these amendments from making it onto the final versions of the HHS omnibus and the Market Rules bills, and fighting all other attempts to limit a woman’s ability to make health care decisions that are best for herself, her situation, and her family.
Pro-Choice Victories
Restricting Abortion in the Health Insurance Exchange
VICTORY: On Wednesday morning, March 20, 2013, Governor Dayton signed the Health Insurance Exchange bill, without any restrictions to abortion coverage, into law.
At midnight on Friday, March 15, 2013, one of the biggest hurdles to a clean Healthcare Insurance Exchange was crossed: the House passed the bill without any restrictions to reproductive health! The bill now goes to the Senate for a vote on Monday, March 18th.
On Wednesday, March 13, 2013, the Health Insurance Exchange conference committee agreed to protect reproductive health by rejecting - on a voice vote - the abortion restriction amendment introduced in the House.
On Thursday, March 7, 2013, thanks to the actions of pro-choice Minnesotans, the Senate passed the health insurance exchange bill, S.F. 1, with no abortion restrictions introduced. The bill will now go into committee for reconciliation.
On Monday, March 4, 2013 the Minnesota House of Representatives passed A13-0121, 71-58, to remove existing coverage of reproductive healthcare and force survivors of rape to report their rape to the government within 48 hours to ensure abortion coverage, while survivors of incest must report the incident and relative to the government before obtaining an abortion.
Do you want to know what you can do to protect reproductive freedom? Then make this page your hub to take action. Here you can:
- Find out if your legislators are pro-choice.
- Get updates from the State Capitol.
- Hear about the latest hot topics in reproductive health.
- Take Action! Today.
ARE YOUR LEGISLATORS PRO-CHOICE?
Find out with these three steps:
1. Who Represents Me? -- Enter your address, including ZIP code.2. Write down the names of your state representative & state senator.
3. Look up their records on reproductive health care policy.
2012 LEGISLATIVE SCORE CARD
For the 2012 Legislative Session Score Card, click here.
2011 LEGISLATIVE SCORE CARD
For the 2011 Legislative Session Score Card, click here.
2010 LEGISLATIVE SCORE CARD
For the 2010 Legislative Session Score Card, click here.
2009 LEGISLATIVE SCORE CARD
For the 2009 Legislative Session Score Card, click here.
HOT TOPICS IN MINNESOTA
- Minnesota Wants Sex Education for Our Youth
- Maintain Funding for Family Planning Grants
- Defending attacks on reproductive freedom
TAKE ACTION!
- Join the Choice Lobby Network! E-mail and call your elected officials when reproductive health care bills are up for a vote. Get the latest updates from the Minnesota State Capitol. Learn the latest news in the world of reproductive rights. Learn how to lobby elected officials.
- Check out our regularly updated Act Now! Alerts to find out how you can affect change!
- Check out NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota Press Statements to hear what we have to say about the latest legislation, election, or other choice issues.
- Follow NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota on Facebook and Twitter!
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