"No longer a drill": Elected officials detail plans to protect abortion in Minnesota following SCOTUS ruling
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota State Capitol served as the backdrop Saturday for a second day of rallies from both abortion rights supporters and opponents.
Between rallies from the two opposing groups, elected officials detailed their plans to keep abortion legal in the state as neighboring states outlaw the practice.
"This is no longer a drill," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar during a joint press conference Saturday afternoon. "It is really happening. We are in a situation right now where my daughter has less rights than I had growing up."
Klobuchar, joined by Sen. Tina Smith, Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov Peggy Flanagan and others, says her hope now rests on the November midterm elections and the chance to codify Roe v. Wade into law.
Walz detailed Executive Order 22-16, which he says protects the rights for Minnesotans to access abortion services while at the same time protecting services for those looking to access from out of state.
"We will use all legal authority of this office to decline to extradite people who are charged under other states laws that criminalize providing or seeking or obtaining reproductive healthcare services," Walz said. "Not on our watch in Minnesota, not with this team that's here."
Walz says the executive order means no bills can be passed in Minnesota to restrict abortion services while he is in power.
Saturday morning, roughly two dozen abortion rights opponents stood on the capitol steps, saying their next hope is for abortion to eventually be outlawed in Minnesota.
"Our fight is not over, if anything, it's gotten bigger," said Jenna Schabert, who attended the rally representing the Students for Life organization. "Up until now we've had one single battle on the nation level, and now it's split to 50 individual battles on the state level."
"We will stand for every single person to the fullest extent of the law to make sure that never happens in Minnesota," Walz said.