Out-of-state abortions in Minnesota have risen by nearly 50% since the fall of Roe v. Wade, a recent report from the state found.
Minnesota’s Department of Health released its annual abortion report on Tuesday revealing that abortions in the state skyrocketed in 2023, just one year after the Supreme Court struck down the long-standing ruling that guaranteed access to abortion nationwide and gave states the right to create laws around the procedure. Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz immediately pushed to turn the state into a “safe haven” for nonresidents seeking abortion, issuing an executive order the day after the court’s decision that said individuals entering Minnesota from states that restrict abortion would not be extradited for receiving the procedure.
Individuals from neighboring states seeking abortions increased from 1,986 in 2022 to 2,976 in 2023, an increase of nearly 1,000, according to the state’s data. Total abortions in the state increased by about 15%, reaching 14,124 in 2023 compared to 12,193 in 2022.
At least 221 abortions in the state occurred after week 21 of pregnancy, though an additional 208 abortions did not report the age of the unborn baby, according to the report.
Most of the nonresidents came from the neighboring states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin, the report stated. Some traveled from Missouri, Nebraska and Texas.
Many of these states passed restrictions on the procedure following the Supreme Court ruling in 2022, such as Texas, which prohibited abortion in nearly all cases. Nebraska and South Dakota residents voted down measures during the November election that would have enshrined a right to abortion into their state constitutions, while Missouri’s was approved.
Abortion bans often face legal challenges, as was the case with Iowa’s law that prohibited the procedure after the sixth-week of pregnancy, though the state’s Supreme Court upheld the law in June of 2024. North Dakota’s six-week ban was struck down by a district judge in September who ruled the law was unconstitutional.
Michigan saw a similar rise in abortions since enshrining the right into its constitution in 2022, increasing by over 1,000 from the previous year for a total of 31,241 abortions, a number the state had not seen in over 30 years.
Walz was tapped in August to be then-Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate for the 2024 presidential election during which the two held firm to their pro-abortion stances. Pro-life Christians played a large role in sinking the Democrats’ campaign.
Walz’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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