Report: Minnesota sees spike in out-of-state patients seeking abortions
MINNEAPOLIS — The number of people crossing state lines to Minnesota to get an abortion spiked after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, new data show.
The number of out-of-state patients jumped from 9% in 2020 to 30% in 2023 over the same time period, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. Nationwide, one in five patients are traveling out of state for an abortion.
Abortion access is protected by a 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court decision and the DFL-led legislature this year bolstered abortion rights by passing a state law guaranteeing a "fundamental right" to the procedure.
Ruth Richardson, CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States — the largest provider in Minnesota — said it had to expand in order to keep pace with demand. Its health center in Mankato re-located to a larger space and the Minneapolis location added seven exam rooms.
She described the influx as adding "pressure points" in a health care system where access is uneven, even in a place like Minnesota where abortion remains legal.
"We're continuing to look at our footprint and ways that we can meet the rising demands," Richardson said. "We are seeing people travel from as far away as Texas and Florida and Louisiana, but we're also seeing a lot of folks across the Midwest, as well."
A Texas woman with a high-risk pregnancy recently captured national headlines when she challenged the strict law there to get an emergency abortion. But as the case got tied up in court, ultimately she traveled somewhere else to get the procedure, her lawyers said.
"When we have abortion bans, they don't ban abortions for everyone. They only ban abortions for people who don't have the means or the opportunity to travel," Richardson said.
Minnesota also has a so-called "shield" law designed to protect people who come here for access and the doctors who provide the procedure.
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life condemns the state's abortion-related policies approved by Democrats this year and says they're out-of-step with what Minnesotans want.
"Sadly, our DFL leadership and Governor Walz would prefer to encourage abortion tourism over the true tourism most Minnesotans desire for this state," said Cathy Blaeser, co-executive director of the organization.
Next year, DFL leaders at the capitol are considering a constitutional amendment to explicitly put abortion rights in the state constitution, though its future is not certain.
A recent poll from MinnPost found 54% of voters support a ballot measure to add those protections, compared to 34% of Minnesotans who oppose it. The remaining 13% of those surveyed said they weren't sure.
The polling also showed that "state abortion bans and the end of Roe" was the highest priority issue for respondents in the Twin Cities, and the second most important issue to people who live in the suburbs.
It was not listed as an important priority for voters in Greater Minnesota, according to the poll.
"Minnesotans don't want the extreme abortion agenda that is being promoted," Blaeser said.
