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But with the Legislature’s makeup little changed from last year, both sides were looking ahead to the November election for the next move.
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life held its annual rally outside the Capitol, drawing busloads of parka-clad abortion foes who stamped and shivered during the speeches. MCCL is renewing efforts to halt coverage of abortions for women on public health programs and prevent state aid for embryonic stem cell research.
The anti-abortion group also aims to ban a rarely used abortion procedure called intrauterine instillation, which involves injecting saltwater or a hormone into the amniotic sac. The state’s 2006 abortion report, the latest available, listed nine such abortions performed that year.
Scott Fischbach, MCCL’s executive director, described a procedure that he said involves removing amniotic fluid from the uterus and replacing it with a toxic saline solution that burns and kills the fetus before a stillbirth delivery.
Since last year’s Supreme Court decision upholding a ban on so-called “partial birth” abortions, abortion providers have to ensure that a fetus is dead before removing it from the uterus, said Brielle Wacker, associate director of Midwest Health Center for Women in Minneapolis. Wacker said her clinic doesn’t offer intrauterine instillation, which is used infrequently in later-term abortions.
Democrats for Life of Minnesota, a group that until now has been invisible at the Capitol, outlined a package of incentives to encourage unexpectedly pregnant women to bear children: an adoption tax credit, health insurance regulations that make it easier for pregnant women to get coverage and a state match for the federal Women, Infants and Children food program.
“We want to remove, again, the stumbling blocks that are there that will prevent her from carrying the child to term,” said Pat Mullins, the group’s executive director.
The bill’s prospects weren’t immediately clear. Reps. Mary Ellen Otremba and Patti Fritz, the bill’s House authors, couldn’t immediately estimate the cost of their proposal, and they don’t have a Senate co-sponsor yet. Representatives of MCCL and Planned Parenthood were cautious in their comments; neither group is endorsing the proposal.
Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota wants to require sex education in public schools statewide, a proposal that died last year. Lobbyist Tim Stanley said the organization — Minnesota’s largest provider of abortions and family planning services — also wants the state to spend more on contraceptives, as part of its goal of reducing unintended pregnancies.
Part of MCCL’s strategy is to put lawmakers on the record on its issues, so their votes can be discussed in campaigns. Fischbach plans to focus on about 20 legislative districts where, he said, representatives’ positions don’t line up with local anti-abortion majorities.
“We’ve got elections in November,” Fischbach said. “Folks will know where their legislators stand.”
Martiga Lohn may be reached at mlohn@ap.org.
