U.S. Abortion Laws by State

Expanded Access

Minnesota

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, Abortion will remain legal in Minnesota. The state’s highest court has recognized the right to abortion under the Minnesota Constitution and, in 2023, the state created a statutory right to reproductive freedom.

State Legal Details

Restrictions in Effect

  • TRAP requirements: Providers, Reporting Requirement

Restrictions

In 2023, Minnesota repealed numerous medically unnecessary restrictions,1 which had been permanently enjoined.2 Minnesota law retains permanently enjoined requirements3 that both parents or a legal guardian be notified about a minor’s abortion.4

Minnesota requires abortion providers to submit reports to the state5 and retains enjoined penalties for providers who violate the enjoined restrictions on minors’ access.6

State Protections

Minnesota law includes constitutional protections for abortion.7.

In 2023, Minnesota enacted a statutory right for reproductive freedom.8 It states:

Every individual has a fundamental right to make decisions about the individual’s reproductive health care, including the fundamental right to use or refuse reproductive health care. Every individuals who becomes pregnant has a fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth, or obtain an abortion, and to make autonomous decisions about how to exercise this fundamental right.0

The law prohibits local government from regulating this fundamental right in a more restrictive manner.9

On June 25, 2022, the Minnesota Governor issued an executive order prohibiting executive branch cooperation with out-of-state investigations and legal actions arising from the lawful provision of abortion care in Minnesota.10 In 2023, Minnesota enacted an interstate shield law protecting providers, patients, and people who help others access abortion care from professional licensure consequences and the reach of out-of-state investigations and legal actions that arise from abortion that is legal in Minnesota.11 The state’s interstate shield protections also prohibit the extradition of people charged with actions arising from the legal provision of abortion.12 Minnesota provides public funding for medically necessary abortions13, requires private insurance coverage for abortion14, and protects clinic access by prohibiting obstruction.15

 

Post-Roe Prohibitions

Minnesota repealed its pre-Roe ban in 197416 and longstanding medically unnecessary restrictions in 2023.17

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, abortion will remain legal in Minnesota. The state’s highest court has recognized the right to abortion under the Minnesota Constitution and, in 2023, the state enacted numerous statutory protections.

  1. S.F. 2995, 93rd Gen. Assem., Reg. Sess. (Minn. 2023), repealing Minn. Stat. u00a7u00a7 145.412 subdiv. 3 (viability ban), 145.4242(a)-(c) (waiting period and biased counseling), 145.412 subdiv. 1(1) (physician only law), 145.4247 subdiv. 1 (civil liability for violations of the Womenu2019s Right to Know Act), 145.412, subdivs. 1(3), 1(4), 4, 145.413, subdiv. 3 (the Felony Penalties), 145.412, subdivs. 1(2), 3(1) (facilities requirements). ↩︎
  2. See Hodgson v. Lawson, 542 F.2d 1350, 1358 (8th Cir. 1976) (per curiam); Doe v. Minnesota, No. 62-CV-19-3868 (Minn. 2d Jud. Dist. July 11, 2022) (order granting permanent injunction); Doe v. Minneosta, No. 62-CV-19-3868 (Minn. May 29, 2024) (order upholding permanent injunction). ↩︎
  3. Doe v. Minnesota, No. 62-CV-19-3868 (Minn. 2d Jud. Dist. July 11, 2022) (order granting permanent injunction). ↩︎
  4. Minn. Stat. u00a0u00a7 144.343 subdiv. 2-3. ↩︎
  5. Id. u00a7u00a7 145.4131 subdiv. 2, 145.413 subdiv. 2. ↩︎
  6. Minn. Stat. u00a7 144.343, subdivs. 2-6 (Two Parent Notification Law and Criminal Penalties) held unconstitutional in Doe v. Minnesota, No. 62-CV-19-3868 (Minn. 2d Jud. Dist. July 11, 2022) (order granting permanent injunction). ↩︎
  7. See Women of Stateu00a0of Minn. by Doe v. Gomez, 542 N.W.2d 17, 27 (Minn. 1995) (“We therefore conclude that the right of privacy under the Minnesota Constitution encompasses a woman’s right to decide to terminate her pregnancy”); see also State v. Davidson, 481 N.W.2d 51, 56 (Minn. 1992) (“We have stated that in appropriate cases we will construe liberties more broadly under the state constitution than under the federal, although we will not do so lightly.”); State v. Gray, 413 N.W.2d 107, 111 (Minn. 1987) (holding that the Minnesota Constitution protects the right to privacy just as the federal Constitution does); State v. Fuller, 374 N.W.2d 722, 726 (Minn. 1985) (“It is axiomatic that a state supreme court may interpret its own state constitution to offer greater protection of individual rights than does the federal constitution.”) See also, Doe v. Minnesota, No. 62-CV-19-3868 (Minn. 2d Jud. Dist. July 11, 2022). ↩︎
  8. H.F. 1, 93rd Gen. Assem., Reg. Sess. (Minn. 2023). ↩︎
  9. Id. at sec.5. ↩︎
  10. Gov. Tim Waltz, Exec. Order No. 22-16, u201cProtecting Access to Reproductive Health Care Services in Minnesotau201d (June 25, 2022), https://s3.amazonaws.com/fn-document-service/file-by-sha384/99904f2c91e60d3d9298f337bd04617f2f04bb0ccd75fec58e8adb7046eea04024045fb4cdc8c4b930671b260765dbcb. ↩︎
  11. H.F. 366, 93rd Gen. Assem., Reg. Sess. (Minn. 2023). ↩︎
  12. H.F. 366, 93rd Gen. Assem., Reg. Sess. (Minn. 2023). ↩︎
  13. Women of State of Minn. by Doe v. Gomez, 542 N.W.2d 17, 32 (Minn. 1995) (striking down law limiting public funds for abortions except in cases of life, rape, or incest because “the State cannot refuse to provide abortion to MA/GAMC-eligible women when the procedure is necessary for therapeutic reasons” under the right to privacy of the Minnesota Constitution). ↩︎
  14. Minn. Stat. u00a7 62Q.524. ↩︎
  15. MINN. STAT. u00a7 609.7495. ↩︎
  16. MINN. STAT. Id. u00a7u00a7 617.18, 617.19 (repealed by 1974 Minn. Laws 265, ch. 177, u00a77). ↩︎
  17. S.F. 2995, 93rd Gen. Assem., Reg. Sess. (Minn. 2023). ↩︎