Star Tribune
Minnesota to become ‘refuge’ for abortion, gender-affirming care with new laws
People traveling to Minnesota for abortion or gender-affirming care will now be shielded from legal consequences in other states under new laws signed by Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday.
The proposals advanced by Minnesota Democrats come as GOP-led states are debating and passing restrictions on abortion and health care for transgender and non-binary people. That includes neighboring states such as North Dakota, which recently enacted a law creating felony penalties for health care providers who provide gender-affirming care to minors.
Republicans have criticized the measures for making Minnesota an outlier in the nation, but Democrats are embracing the state’s status as a refuge.
“That march of bigotry and hate stops at Minnesota’s borders,” Walz said Thursday, surrounded by legislators and advocates of the proposals before signing them into law. “Freedom is on the march in Minnesota, decency is on the march in Minnesota, compassion is on the march in Minnesota.”
The governor also signed a long-sought measure to ban conversion therapy, the discredited practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The proposal will prohibit the practice on minors and vulnerable adults.
While some Republicans were critical of the measure, which they argued would put restrictions on conversations between children and trusted adults, more than a dozen GOP legislators joined Democrats in voting for the ban.
“It’s been 10 years we’ve been fighting for this, it feels good,” said Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, who led the push for the proposal at the Capitol. “It’s about making sure those who follow us live in a better world.”
The abortion and gender-affirming care laws, which went into effect immediately, codify recent executive orders from Walz that respond to a rapidly changing national landscape.
More than 100 proposals have been introduced in legislatures across the country this year that aim to restrict health care affirming a person’s gender identity, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Along with North Dakota, neighboring Iowa and South Dakota have taken steps to restrict such care.
Medical organizations like the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have said that access to gender-affirming care is essential. The American Medical Association recently sent urging state leaders to oppose restrictions on this care, calling it “medically necessary” for transgender people “who face increased risk of anxiety, stress, substance use disorder and suicide.”
The new laws will protect families and children traveling to Minnesota for gender-affirming care from repercussions and extradition orders from other states. The abortion proposal would enact similar protections, making patient data on abortions private and restricting subpoenas from other states.
“We need to start thinking about how we’re going to support families coming to Minnesota. I expect thousands — if not more — people to respond to what we are doing here,” said Rep. Leigh Finke, the sponsor of the gender-affirming care measure and Minnesota’s first transgender legislator.
“People are desperate, scared, they need safety. Our schools are going to have to be ready, our healthcare providers are going to have to be ready,” said Finke. “This is real, it’s not hypothetical.”
Abortion and gender-affirming care providers in Minnesota have said they’ve already seen a spike in people traveling here for care. Legislative Republicans criticized the proposals for ignoring the rule of law in other states.
Abortion access is protected in Minnesota through a 1995 state Supreme Court ruling and a new law signed in January that codifies abortion rights in statute. Neighboring states South Dakota and Wisconsin immediately banned most abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. North Dakota’s governor recently signed law banning nearly all abortions.
The governor’s office said they haven’t received subpoenas or requests for extradition orders against people who have traveled here for abortion care since he issued his executive order last summer, but states are still passing new restrictions.
“We are saying we will not police your body here in Minnesota, we are saying you are safe here in Minnesota,” said Sen. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, who sponsored the abortion bill. “We are saying you can receive the care that you need here in Minnesota.”
The Lynx are in the hot seat.
The team lost Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night 77-80, setting the stage for a decisive match at Target Center on Friday night. Fans in the arena reacted with resounding disappointment after Sabrina Ionescu sunk a three-pointer to break away from the tie game and dashed the Lynx’s chance at forcing overtime.
Before we get to the reactions, first things first: The Lynx set an attendance record, filling Target Center with 19,521 spectators for the first time in franchise history. That’s nearly 500 more than when Caitlin Clark was in town with the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Despite leading by double digits for much of the game, the Lynx began the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Liberty and struggled to stay more than two or three points ahead throughout.
The Liberty took the lead with minutes to go in the fourth quarter and folks were practically despondent.
Of course, there were people who were in it solely for the spectacle. Nothing more.
The Lynx took a commanding lead early in the first quarter and ended the first half in winning position, setting a particularly jovial mood among the fanbase to start the game.
Inside Target Center, arena announcers spent a few minutes before the game harassing Lynx fans — and Liberty fans — who had not yet donned the complementary T-shirts draped over every seat.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings