Where Tim Walz stands on abortion rights, IVF
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Gov. Tim Walz signs Minnesota's abortion rights law in January 2023. Photo: Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images
In tapping Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Kamala Harris added to the ticket a staunch supporter of reproductive rights who has expanded access to abortion in Minnesota — and who has a personal story with in vitro fertilization.
Why it matters: Democrats plan to make reproductive rights a top issue again this year after their 2022 successes up and down the ballot.
The big picture: Walz signed into Minnesota law a bill that codifies the right to abortion and other forms of reproductive healthcare the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
- The governor also enacted a shield law to protect providers and patients from legal action initiated in states with abortion bans.
What they're saying: Harris praised those actions at a Tuesday rally as she introduced her running mate, saying he "was the first governor in the country to sign a new law that enshrined reproductive freedom as a fundamental right," after the Dobbs decision.
- She pledged to enact a similar federal law if Democrats win the White House and control of Congress.
Zoom in: Walz and Harris also touted his personal connection to the political debate over IVF. He and his wife Gwen went through seven years of fertility treatments before getting pregnant with their first of two children.
- "It wasn't by chance that when we welcomed our daughter into the world, we named her Hope," Walz said Tuesday.
State of play: Even before the recent changes, Minnesota was seen as a "safe haven" for legal abortion access in the upper Midwest, due to a preexisting state Supreme Court ruling.
- Local abortion clinics have reported a surge in patients from other parts of the country, including from neighboring states that have banned or restricted the procedure.
Between the lines: The state's abortion protections do not include any gestational limit on abortion, meaning the procedure can be done any time in pregnancy.
- Recent state data suggests abortions late in pregnancy are rare. Just one third trimester termination — at 32 weeks — was reported in 2022, and advocates say they are typically prompted by serious health issues.
Yes, but: Republicans and abortion rights opponents have cited that aspect of the law to criticize Democrats for passing what they've called "the most extreme abortion laws in the country."
- Jeff Evans, CEO of the conservative Minnesota Family Council slammed Walz for green lighting "abortion up to birth" in a Tuesday statement, saying the Harris-Walz ticket "the most radical on abortion ... in American history."
