Non-profit

UnRestrict Minnesota

Website:

unrestrictmn.org

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UnRestrict Minnesota is a pro-abortion campaign that is a joint project of the New Venture Fund, a nonprofit managed by the for-profit consulting firm Arabella Advisors, and a number of other left-leaning organizations.

The organization and its members filed a lawsuit in 2019 seeking to overturn nearly every abortion restriction in the state of Minnesota. It also has launched a public relations campaign seeking to inform Minnesotans about the restrictions on abortion that are in place in the state.

Overview

UnRestrict Minnesota is a coalition of left-wing organizations that are seeking to eliminate all restrictions to abortion in Minnesota. It supports the position that abortion is health care and the constitution of the state of Minnesota protects the right to a legal abortion. 1

Among the laws that UnRestrict Minnesota is seeking to repeal are requirements that minors notify parents before having an abortion. It also seeks to repeal laws that require doctors to inform patients of the health risks of having an abortion, laws that restrict which doctors can perform abortions, and require a waiting period before having an abortion, among other restricts. 2

Member Organizations

UnRestrict Minnesota is an alliance of left-wing organizations, unions, feminist groups, abortion industry lobbyists, and other left-wing special interests. The member organizations are:3

  • Abortion Access Front: a group of comedians, writers, and producers that work to destigmatize abortion.
  • ACLU Minnesota
  • AFSCME Council 5
  • Asian American Organizing Project
  • Family Tree Clinic, an abortion provider in Saint Paul
  • First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis
  • Gender Justice: a nonprofit legal and policy advocacy organization that works on gender equality
  • O.T.D.I.S.H Militia: a a pro-abortion organization that works in the Northland
  • Minnesota NOW
  • MSP NOW
  • NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota
  • National Council of Jewish Women Minnesota
  • Our Justice, a pro-abortion advocacy organization that helps provide abortions through its abortion access fund
  • OutFront Minnesota, a LGBT advocacy organization
  • SPIRAL Collective, a “chronically ill, disabled, queer, trans, BIPOC-centered full spectrum reproductive justice collective”
  • TakeAction Minnesota, a left-wing community organizing group
  • The Lawyering Project, a left-wing legal organization working to overturn most abortion restrictions
  • WE Health, an abortion clinic in Duluth
  • Whole Woman’s Health, an abortion provider in Minneapolis
  • Whole Woman’s Health Alliance, a group that works to promote abortions

2019 Lawsuit

In 2019, the UnRestrict Minnesota coalition brought a lawsuit in order to strike down 13 laws that restrict abortion in Minnesota. The coalition argued that the laws were an unconstitutional violation of a Minnesota Supreme Court decision that made abortion a constitutionally protected right under the state constitution in 1995. 4

Among the laws that were targeted were informed consent laws, laws that required minors to notify both parents before an abortion is performed, a ban on non-physicians performing abortions, requirements that doctors notify abortion patients of alternatives to abortion, the requirement that doctors notify patients of the health risks to abortion, notification of a woman’s right to seek child support from her male partner, and end to requirements that a fetus must be buried or cremated instead of being treated as medical waste, among others. 5

The lawsuit was heard in October 2019; as of early 2020, the court had not reached a decision. 6

References

  1. “Minnesota Abortion Laws And Restrictions”. 2020. Unrestrict Minnesota. Accessed February 3. https://unrestrictmn.org/minnesota-abortion-laws/.
  2. “Minnesota Abortion Laws And Restrictions”. 2020. Unrestrict Minnesota. Accessed February 3. https://unrestrictmn.org/minnesota-abortion-laws/.
  3. “Meet Our Community Partners!”. 2020. Unrestrict Minnesota. Accessed February 3. https://unrestrictmn.org/partners/.
  4. Jones/CNA, Kevin. 2019. “In Minnesota, Ambitious Pro-Abortion Lawsuit Seeks To Strike Down 13 Laws”. Catholic Herald. https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/11/04/in-minnesota-ambitious-pro-abortion-lawsuit-seeks-to-strike-down-13-laws/.
  5.     Jones/CNA, Kevin. 2019. “In Minnesota, Ambitious Pro-Abortion Lawsuit Seeks To Strike Down 13 Laws”. Catholic Herald. https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/11/04/in-minnesota-ambitious-pro-abortion-lawsuit-seeks-to-strike-down-13-laws/.
  6. Jones/CNA, Kevin. 2019. “In Minnesota, Ambitious Pro-Abortion Lawsuit Seeks To Strike Down 13 Laws”. Catholic Herald. https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2019/11/04/in-minnesota-ambitious-pro-abortion-lawsuit-seeks-to-strike-down-13-laws/.
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