Rigorous prayer and advocacy work was exerted by the pro-life community in Minnesota and yet the state legislature passed the Protect Reproductive Options (PRO) Act, signed into law by and Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday, placing the state at the forefront of extreme abortion practices.
Mark Johnson, senate minority leader, called it, “the most extreme abortion bill, not just in the state, but in the world.”
An interdenominational Christian organization, Pro-Life Action Ministries (PLAM) has been at the forefront of this battle as they are laser focused upon taking courageous action on behalf of the unborn.
“Women are being hurt by abortion,” Brian Gibson, executive director of PLAM told Pregnancy Help News. “This effort by the legislature not only ignores the baby but it ignores the women as well.”
“We virtually have no regulations at the abortion facilities,” he said. “There was another ambulance at the abortion facility a week ago; the Planned Parenthood in St. Paul.”
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Prior to the Minnesota legislature voting, PLAM had asked supporters to contact legislators to stand against the bill. In sounding the alarm, they highlighted the most disturbing consequences of the PRO Act - which would allow 13-year-olds to get abortions without their parents ever knowing.
Just as devastating, this law will make it easy for sexual predators to force their victims to get abortions.
It also implements taxpayer-funded abortions and allows women to receive abortions from unlicensed physicians.
The bill additionally thwarts the protections implemented in other states as it will make it easier for women to come into Minnesota and receive late-term abortions.
Beyond abortion, the law makes the sterilization of minors apart from parental approval available.
“The way they wrote this law, it isn’t only abortion, it applies to anything that has to do with reproduction,” Gibson said.
“In our state that’s going to include transgender issues and sterilization, or anything related with sexual involvement, it’s so broadly written,” he noted. “It’s tragic we’re facing this right now.”
Gibson decried the law because with its enactment, “Minnesota joins the ranks of the worst in the nation and the world in failing to provide any protections for the defenseless unborn or women seeking abortion.”
There were three prayer efforts at the state capital and thousands of Minnesotans joined in on PLAM’s call for prayer and fasting prior to the Senate vote.
“Leading up to all this we did everything we could to get the word out,” Gibson said. “We purchased digital marketing and everything to get the word out and right away I found out what it’s like to be shut down by social media.”
Then there was the problem of the mainstream media not covering the story, he added, so they went to the radio for some coverage, but there was only so much they could do with limited funds.
Gibson said that with the lack of coverage people are shocked to find out what has now passed into law.
“It was pushed through so fast and so hard I don’t think there’s ever been a piece of legislation passed in my lifetime in Minnesota that was signed into law during the first month of a legislation session,” Gibson observed.
“It was just rammed through as fast as it could be,” he said. “That was intentional. They didn’t want the response from the public.”
A Fox News article reported on how the law codified abortion, stating, “While the right to abortion was previously guaranteed in a 1995 decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court, Doe v. Gomez, abortion rights activists and Democrats said the PRO act was necessary to codify abortion rights into state law, as well as rights to contraception, fertility treatment, and pregnancy.”
Minnesota Senate Republicans released the following statement from Johnson:
“A casual observer would think Minnesota voters gave democrats a significant majority and mandate to ram through radical and extreme legislation that will fundamentally change the lives of everyday Minnesotans.”
Senate Republicans attempted to amend the bill but were denied. They were asking for restrictions on late-term, saline, and dismemberment abortions, protection for minors from abusers, protection for babies with Down syndrome—all of which were rejected by Democrats.
Walz’s view at the signing was quite the opposite, one championing so-called “reproductive rights.” MPR News provided coverage.
“We’re sending a message today that is very clear,” Walz stated. “Your rights are respected in this state.”
These rights exclude children. Unborn children for certain, and underage children who will be at risk of abuse by adults coercing them into abortions and the possibility of future pregnancies through sterilization.
Democrat lawmakers, alongside Planned Parenthood representatives were present as Walz signed the legislation.
As the law went into effect immediately, the abortion advocates present indicated they view this law as a first step in guaranteeing access to abortion in Minnesota.
Abortion proponents assembled a strong coalition of lawmakers and Planned Parenthood executives focused on seeking additional elimination of regulations on abortion. Given the radical nature of what has already been enacted, one wonders what is left to be removed.
With the PRO Act in place, Planned Parenthood and others in the abortion industry will be free to perform services without medical licensing and the oversight of their clinics.
The author of the PRO Act, Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, noted at the signing that she believes Minnesota is leading by example with this law, likening the state to the “North Star” for the surrounding states.
Following the passage of the PRO Act, Gibson encouraged PLAM supporters.
“We do not give up hope,” Gibson said. “Our work to intervene on behalf of God’s precious little ones must continue. We are there for the moms and dads who have been deceived by the god of this age.”
The organization called to courageous action will need all the more courage to stay the course in the face of such disheartening losses.
“The work that we do with sidewalk counseling efforts, going and praying at abortion facilities, that hasn’t changed. We must still be out there. We’re trying to save every precious child that we can along the way. Trying to encourage Christians to come out and stand in defense of the defenseless.”
“The other side of this is there are other efforts in our legislature right now,” Gibson stated, “including at least one piece of legislation intended to do harm to pregnancy help centers.”
“We will continue to engage and do the work that can be done along with all the other pro-life organizations in our state to try and defend the pregnancy help centers from the attacks of our majority party in Minnesota,” he said.
Gibson told supporters in written communication, “Remember this was never and is not about us. Our plea, our work, our desire is for the babies and their moms and dads. It is for the good of our whole society.”
He called on PLAM proponents to seek a greater reliance on God which will deepen faith and further focus the pro-life activists to the call of selfless actions.
“We offer concrete help and the hope and love of God to those scheduled to abort their babies,” Gibson declared. “We pray where evil is thriving the most. We stand for the voiceless and remind the world around us of the goodness and mercy of God.”
