State Senate OKs conversion therapy ban, transgender and abortion refuge bills

Minnesota is poised to become a Midwest destination for people seeking abortions and gender-affirming health care, as some other states across the country restrict the procedures.

Democrats in the state Senate passed a trio of progressive priorities Friday, including protections from legal repercussions and extradition orders for transgender people and their families traveling to Minnesota to receive gender-affirming care. A separate abortion bill would enact similar protections, making patient data on abortions private and restricting subpoenas from other states that have banned the procedure.

Senators also passed a ban on the discredited practice of conversion therapy, which seeks to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. All three bills will help preserve the freedoms of Minnesotans, said Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis.

"People should have the liberties that are guaranteed in our Constitution. People should have the right to self-determination," Dibble said. "And in Minnesota, people should be free from the laws of other states that would impact and negatively affect all of those basic American rights."

The House has already approved the three proposals the Senate voted on Friday. The Senate bill sponsor said the abortion bill would be amended and sent back to the House for a final approval, but all of the measures are expected to be on DFL Gov. Tim Walz's desk soon. The governor's office said he will sign all three.

The ban on conversion therapy applies to minors and vulnerable adults. Dibble had been pushing for the ban for years. He called the practice "heinous and barbaric" and said it amounts to torture.

The DFL-controlled Senate voted 36-27 to ban the practice. Republican Sens. Zach Duckworth and Jeremy Miller joined 34 Democrats in supporting the ban.

Several GOP members spoke out against the conversion therapy ban for children and vulnerable adults on the Senate floor.

"I just don't want to close the door on quality help and even discussions and dialogue that might be productive," said Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, who feared the bill could chill conversations between minors and trusted adults.

No Republicans joined in support of the abortion bill, which passed on a party-line vote.

"To people who are forced to flee their home states because they are not safe there, we say, 'Welcome, and you are safe here in Minnesota,' " said Sen. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, an obstetrician-gynecologist who sponsored the measure.

GOP Sen. Paul Utke, of Park Rapids, called the abortion bill "unconstitutional" and said Democrats are trying to extend Minnesota's laws beyond its borders.

"This legislation pushes Minnesota towards extensive litigation over constitutional issues with other states," Utke said.

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, some states — including Wisconsin and South Dakota — have seen abortions banned, and others continue to add restrictions.

The Minnesota Senate's party-line vote on transgender health care came two days after North Dakota's GOP Gov. Doug Burgum signed a measure saying health care providers there could face felony charges for providing gender-affirming care to minors. Iowa, South Dakota and other states have also recently taken steps to restrict such care.

Republican senators in Minnesota cited concerns about how the gender-affirming medical care procedures could affect minors.

"They don't even have the ability to weigh the consequences, mentally, of what they're doing," said Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe. "This process, much of it has irreversible consequences."

Gruenhagen was recently the subject of an ethics complaint after he emailed Senate Democrats video that he initially claimed contained images of gender affirmation surgeries on minors.

Sen. Erin Maye Quade, the bill's sponsor, filed the complaint against Gruenhagen. She rejected Republicans' criticisms Friday.

"Their health care, the health care that they decide to have, is none of our business," said Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley. "Their doctors, the medical associations, the parents say this is appropriate care, and that is enough for me."

Supporters and opponents of the three bills waved signs and chanted slogans at each other across the State Capitol rotunda Friday morning.

Angie Ebel, of Roseville, said she showed up to support bodily autonomy. She and others were waiting, worried, as the Supreme Court was poised to rule on access to the widely used abortion pill, mifepristone. The high court ruled later Friday that mifepristone would remain on the market as the challenge to its availability moves through the legal system.

"It's frightening just that these things are up for debate. And that it's a slow whittling away — like with Roe — slowly things get taken away and all of a sudden you look up and these giant things have happened. They are playing the long game and it scares me," Ebel said.

Morrison said the looming mifepristone ruling added urgency.

"This is a shifting legal landscape. It literally changes on a daily basis right now and there is a lot of confusion among patients and providers," she said. She hopes the bill will help clarify things in Minnesota.

Ebel said the legislative action makes her proud to be a Minnesotan, a message that was echoed by many supporters Friday morning.

"I have trans friends across the country that are looking for a safe place that they can escape to," said Orla Gotthelf, of Minneapolis. "It's sad that we have to have a refuge state, but I'm happy that we are becoming a safe place."

Meanwhile, Jen and Jordan Pepin traveled from St. Michael, Minn., to the Capitol to oppose the bills.

"We're here hoping that the legislation does not go through. We think we're at a pivotal point in our state," Jordan Pepin said. "A lot of the issues that we're putting under the umbrella of politics are well beyond how we run government and are getting into more and more moral issues, and just a lot of moral decay that we're hoping to not continue."