Election 2022: Abortion a key issue for voters in Minnesota

Oct. 9—Abortion rights aren't literally on the ballot in Minnesota this fall, but might as well be.

Local voters say the issue is energizing them to go to the polls and encouraging others to do the same.

"I was already planning on voting because it's our duty as a citizen, but it makes me want to motivate my friends to vote more, especially the ones that are in the dorms who are unsure how to vote," said Sophie Perreault, a Minnesota State University student who will be a first-time voter this fall.

Perreault had just stopped by the College Democrats' table Wednesday at MSU's Centennial Student Union. She's concerned Republicans will pursue federal abortion restrictions or bans, citing South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham's recent proposal to outlaw the procedure beyond the 15-week mark of a pregnancy.

Opinion polling shows the MSU student is much like the rest of the state and country in seeing abortion rights as a key issue this election.

Political positioning

A KSTP/SurveyUSA poll released Wednesday showed abortion is the second most likely issue to influence votes in Minnesota's 2022 elections, only behind the economy. Among independent voters, abortion was found to be the No. 1 issue.

Although abortion has been an election issue in the past, this year is different. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its Dobbs v. Jackson ruling in June, giving states more latitude to restrict or ban abortion rights.

Political analysts have since speculated about what impact the decision will have on mid-term elections. Some states have seen surges in voter registration this year, with data indicating the increase is driven by women.

It's reasonable for voters to see abortion rights as an important issue this election after the Supreme Court decision, said Kevin Parsneau, Minnesota State University's political science program director.

"We probably will see a higher turnout in Minnesota and the country than you'd normally expect in a mid-term election in part because of that issue," he said.

Democratic politicians and aligned groups are regularly talking about protecting abortion access in their campaigns.

"Even though it's not explicitly on the ballot in Minnesota," Parsneau said, "Democrats are trying to put it on the ballot and I think they have a fair argument that it's an issue."

Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party sent out a recent mailer — with a disclaimer that it wasn't coordinated or approved by any candidate — labeling Republican governor candidate Scott Jensen as "extreme" and "out-of-touch" on the abortion issue. It quotes Jensen from an MPR News interview in March saying he'd try to ban abortion.

Gov. Tim Walz, trying to win reelection over Jensen, acknowledged he thinks reproductive rights are on the ballot in November in a June news conference after the Supreme Court decision. He called Jensen's views "extreme" and likened the gap between how he and Jensen view women and health care to the Grand Canyon.

Jensen has more recently tried to backtrack from that comment, calling abortion a "constitutional right" in Minnesota in a recent campaign ad featuring him holding a baby. In an interview with The Free Press during August campaign stops in Mankato, he said rape and incest are acceptable exceptions for abortions. He previously said there shouldn't be exceptions for rape and incest unless the mother's life was in danger during a May interview with WCCO.

Generally, Republicans are focusing their message more on the economy, inflation and gas prices, Parsneau said.

Less focus on abortion among conservative politicians comes despite them and their allies waging a decades-long campaign to achieve the court victory. Republicans faced immediate backlash in polls, and, in one instance, an election.

Kansas voters, who went for former President Donald Trump by 15 percentage points in the 2020 election, rejected an August ballot measure that would've removed abortion protections from the state's constitution. The margin in the ballot measure was 18 percentage points.

The result tracked with what issue polling finds on the issue. Pew Research Center polling after the Supreme Court decision found 57% of Americans disapproved of it, while 62% agreed abortions should be legal in all or most cases.

Rights not set in stone

The Supreme Court's decision was an example of how seemingly protected constitutional rights aren't set in stone. And while it may not be right to expect the abortion issue to overwhelmingly help Democrats in the election, Parsneau said, Minnesota voters also aren't likely to move on from the issue just because the state seems to have constitutional protections in place.

"It would be a mistake to overestimate the amount of additional women Democrats are going to get on this issue, but on the other hand I don't think it's accurate to say, 'Minnesota's constitution protects this and let's just move on,'" he said. "No one is going to move on on this issue."

After fighting to overturn Roe v. Wade for decades, there's a chance voters who support the decision may turn out in droves to reward politicians who share their views. The state's largest pro-life organization, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, is seeing "a lot of pro-life Minnesotans who are energized to get out and vote," said Communications Director Paul Stark in a statement.

"Despite the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, Minnesota has a very extreme abortion policy — there are virtually no limits," he stated. "A Minnesota court decision in July struck down a number of longstanding and commonsense abortion laws in our state, including informed consent requirements and parental notification prior to abortion performed on a minor."

Minnesota's laws allow for elective abortions up to about 24 weeks into a pregnancy. After that point, exceptions are allowed if the pregnancy puts a mother's life in danger.

Late-term abortions, meaning the procedure was performed in the third trimester, are nearly nonexistent in Minnesota, according to state data. The state had one such abortion out of 10,018 total in 2021, indicating it happened due to the mother's health risks.

The court decision that Stark is referring to came in July when a Ramsey County District Judge struck down Minnesota laws enforcing 24-hour waiting periods for abortions, notification of both parents before a procedure on a minor and requiring the procedure be performed in a hospital after the first trimester.

The lifting of restrictions has a bigger impact on rural Minnesota. Women seeking an abortion previously faced multiple trips and days off from work to go to the nearest abortion provider in the Twin Cities metro for their initial appointments and procedure.

After the decision, Stark stated voters face important questions this fall.

"The question now is whether we will be able to have these types of reasonable protections for unborn children and their mothers," he stated. "That's why the election is so important."

In another sign of how big the issue will be this election, a Thursday workshop in Mankato focused specifically on abortion access, including how to keep Minnesota a safe haven for abortion rights in a post Roe v. Wade world. The ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Indivisible Mankato/St. Peter, UnRestrict Minnesota and First Presbyterian Church organized the event at the church.

The ACLU has four more voter education events before the election, not specifically focused on abortion, planned in partnership with Indivisible. The events are Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 at MSU and Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter

Outside Thursday's event, a demonstrator on the sidewalk who declined to give his name said he showed up because he views abortion as murder. He opposed incremental steps to outlaw the procedure, saying it should be outright banned.

The man plans to vote, and added other people who feel the same way will show up on Election Day as well.

At the event, author and ordained minister with the Presbyterian Church Toddie Peters presented on how the religious right so often dominates the abortion discussion. She shared data showing a majority of evangelicals oppose abortion rights, but other religious groups don't share their hardline views.

Peters offered a progressive Christian view on abortion as a decision best left up to women. Her book on the topic, "Trust Women," explores the issue, and she encouraged attendees to get involved in political action to offset the outsized influence of "anti-choice" voters and people in power.

The issue will absolutely be a motivating factor for voters this fall, Peters said beforehand. A large number of people were surprised to see the "anti-choice" movement overturn what seemed to be a settled constitutional right.

"I think that across the country there are people who are outraged by what has happened," she said.

Peters made the point to the group that there's a moral versus legal distinction felt by many people on the abortion issue. Someone may think people shouldn't seek abortions while at the same time think the government shouldn't restrict choice.

This goes along with the nuances found within issues polling on abortion. Support for abortion rights is generally strong, but varies depending on when the procedure occurs in a pregnancy, what kind of exceptions are allowed and a host of other considerations.

Gina Casey, of Mankato, was among about a dozen in attendance for Thursday's workshop. Abortion access has inspired her to take a different approach to this election, she said.

"It has motivated me to talk more to mostly the young people in my life, the 20-somethings," she said. "A lot of them have in the past been pretty apathetic, so I've really been asking them if they registered or if they have a plan, and that's different this year."

Parsneau has noticed more students seem more politically engaged lately because of the abortion issue, although they have questions about what the Supreme Court decision actually meant. In class, he talks about the connection between privacy rights protecting abortion access and similar protections for other civil liberties including access to contraception and interracial marriage.

The Supreme Court's decision prompted fears that other rights may not be as protected as they seemed.

"We don't know where this is going to go," Parsneau said. "They're confused about where this is going to go, and it raises the issue of how legal principles and interpretations and new court majorities can ripple through society for decades."

Harvey Buchanan, 18, who described himself as transmasculine, was staffing the College Dems table Wednesday. He came to MSU from Arkansas and said it's been really upsetting to see states, including back home, roll back abortion rights.

The LGBT community often gets left out of abortion conversations, he said, but it's a huge issue for them. If abortion access protections are up to the states, same-sex marriage could face the same fate.

"A lot of places are looking at reversing same-sex marriage as well, and that affects me and my particular community," Buchanan said. "A lot of other civil rights are on the table, on the chopping block. That's really scary and really worrying, so we're hoping to engage young people because most of Gen Z is eligible to vote."

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