Global Courant 2023-04-30 01:33:26
The governors of two Democratic-led states — Minnesota and Washington — signed into law laws designed to help those traveling to their states seeking an abortion or sex reassignment surgery.
Under recent laws signed into law on Thursday by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, other states are prohibited from using Washington or Minnesota-controlled courts and judicial processes to enforce their own bans on abortion or enforce gender reassignment treatments for minors. .
They are the latest liberal states to introduce legal safeguards for sex reassignment treatments and abortion after more than a dozen states took steps to restrict both procedures in the year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“Choice is a health care issue. We protect access to health care,” Inslee said while signing the bill.
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Recent laws signed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee prohibit other states from using Washington or Minnesota-run courts or legal proceedings to enforce their own bans. (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images for SEIU, Karen Ducey)
Anti-abortion advocates and legislators questioned the necessity of the Washington and Minnesota laws since abortion is already protected by state laws. Washington Republican Representative Jim Walsh tweeted that the policy is “anti-family.”
Gov. Tim Walz also made Minnesota a haven for young people from other states for gender reassignment care. He signed legislation on Thursday making Minnesota a “haven” for abortion patients from other states and banning so-called conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ youth.
“Look, I don’t know how hard this concept is to understand,” Walz said. “If someone else gets basic rights, others don’t lose theirs. We don’t cut pie here. We give basic rights to every Minnesotan.”
Gov. Minnesota Democrat Tim Walz poses with supporters after signing three Progressive Priorities in St. Paul, Minn, on April 27, 2023. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via AP)
The legislation, according to a press release of the Minnesota legislature last month would make the state a “trans haven” and “prohibit the enforcement of a court order for the removal of a child or the enforcement of another state’s law applied in a pending child protection action in Minnesota when the law of another state allows the child to be removed from the parent or guardian for the purpose of receiving medically necessary health care or mental health care that respects the patient’s gender identity.”
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“Gender affirming” care, as defined by state law, is “medically necessary health care or mental health care that respects the patient’s gender identity, as experienced and defined by the patient.”
Washington’s law is in response to states such as neighboring Idaho that made it illegal for an adult to help a minor have an abortion without parental consent. Starting next year, anyone in Idaho who provides sex reassignment care to transgender youth can become a convicted felon.
Lawmakers and supporters clap as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signs House Bill 1155 at the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health at the University of Washington in Seattle on April 27, 2023. (AP photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Likewise, the new Minnesota law targets not only abortion patients from neighboring states, but also those from Texas who have made Minnesota a destination.
Minnesota’s first openly transgender legislator, Rep. Leigh Finke, was the House of Representatives lead author of the transgender refuge bill.
“We all live our everyday lives, simply trying to find the space to be who we are, to love who we love, to exist in our schools, to exist peacefully in our families, to just have a space for find us to be whole,” Finke said.
State Representative Leigh Finke, DFL-St. Paul, speaking to members of Moms Demand Action outside the Minnesota Legislature Senate Chamber on January 3, 2023 in St. Paul, Minn. (Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
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Republican Senator Paul Utke opposed the abortion law, saying Minnesota should not protect doctors, nurses and other medical professionals who have deliberately violated other states’ abortion laws.
Abortion has been legal in Washington state since a statewide referendum in 1970. In 1991, Washington voters approved codifying Roe v. Wade in state law good. Washington clinics have reported 138 more abortions per month since the court’s decision to overturn Roe than in previous months.
A Minnesota judge lifted most of the state’s abortion restrictions last summer. Walz then signed a bill in January that codified abortion as a right.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
