Legislation to Watch
Responsible Sex Ed NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota strongly supports medically accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive sexuality education programs as a vital part of any adolescent pregnancy prevention and health promotion effort. During the 2008 legislative session, comprehensive sex ed has been attached to the omnibus education policy bill. This bill passed in the Senate on April 16 but has not yet been taken up by the House. Please contact your representative today and tell them that you support comprehensive sex ed! In 2007, the sex ed bill was included in the final Education Omnibus bill presented to the Governor. Following pressure from House Republicans, the Governor demanded that sex ed be removed from the bill or he would veto. Through our partnership with the Coalition for Responsible Sex Ed, NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota will continue to bring grassroots pressure on the entire Legislature to stand up for sex ed. Minnesota Parents Want Sex Ed! See the not-so-surprising survey results from the University of Minnesota Preservation of Family Planning Funds In the 2007 legislative session, the reproductive health community was able to secure increased funding for family planning in Minnesota. The bill included an increase to $10 million for the Family Planning Special Projects program, a 25% increase in the Medicaid reimbursement rate for providers, the ability for nurses to dispense oral contraceptives, and the inclusion of family planning and community health clinics in the state’s drug purchasing pool. Since the Legislature operates in a two-year cycle, that funding is not completely secured until the end of this session. As the state faces a budget shortfall, lawmakers will be looking to cut many programs. We must continue to protect the gains made in 2007. Attacks on Choice Instillation “saline” abortions: Instillation abortion is performed by injecting a chemical solution consisting of saline, urea, or prostaglandin through the abdomen. The chemical solution induces uterine contractions which expel the fetus. Just over 50 of these procedures have been performed in Minnesota since 2002. Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) has made banning the use of saline a top legislative priority. Bills to ban instillation abortions have been introduced in the House as HF 3946 and HF 3947 and the Senate as SF 3619 and SF 3575.
NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota will defend the right of physicians to determine the best course of treatment for their own patients. We oppose this measure. Click here to see our factsheet.
Constitutional Right to Choose: 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.
NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota will continue to defend legislative attempts to challenge this ruling and restrict low-income women’s access to abortion. Click here to read our factsheet. Grieving Parents Act: In 2007, a bill was introduced to require hospitals and other medical facilities to provide written notification to a woman following a miscarriage at less than 20 weeks of pregnancy that she can arrange for the burial or cremation of the fetus. Nothing in the bill prevents the statute from possibly being interpreted to apply to abortion clinics, and a small change during future legislative sessions could require abortion clinics to offer cremation services. The bill is also another step towards establishing fetal personhood in Minnesota.
NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota will continue to oppose this and any other legislation that opens the door for increase regulations on abortion providers or otherwise chips away at the fundamental right to choose. Please click here to read our factsheet. |
