Minnesota: abortions hit 20-year high after Tim Walz signed law allowing abortions up to birth

Abortions in Minnesota rose 16% and reached a 20-year high of 14,124 in 2023, the same year lawmakers enshrined an abortion-until-birth policy in state law and repealed numerous abortion-related laws, including laws that guaranteed informed consent of women and provided practical assistance to those who do not want abortions.

A Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) report showed that the number of abortions in 2022 was 12,193 and in 2023 it was 14,124, its highest level since 2003.

This broke a long-term downward trend, which had recorded a 48% decline in abortions between 1980 and 2015. The abortion rate among Minnesota residents rose to 10.1 per 1,000 women of reproductive age, a 9% increase compared to 2022 and a 20% increase over 2021.

As recalled by the pro-life organization Life News in 2023, lawmakers changed parts of Minnesota's abortion reporting law, delaying the publication date of the annual MDH report until Dec. 31 and repealing certain reporting requirements.

"As a result, the new report does not include post-operative abortion complications or the reasons behind abortion. Nor does it report cases of infants who survive abortion and the care they receive. Lawmakers in 2023 had also repealed a law requiring that reasonable and medically appropriate measures be taken to save the lives of such infants," the organization highlighted.