Minnesota Ensures Protection For Abortion Patients and LGBTQ Youth

We can all agree that It is disheartening to wake up to news that more and more states all across the nation have aligned themselves against inclusivity, banning, blocking, or restricting access to abortion, and medically necessary gender-affirming healthcare for transgender and gender-nonconforming members of the LGBTQ community. Minnesota has recently become a beam of hope for those not getting the support they need, passing a trio of inclusive bills; banning conversion therapy, enacting a trans health refugee bill, and securing abortion access. 

The trans health refugee bill, otherwise known as House File 146, would prevent the state from having to comply with child removal requests, court orders, or protection laws related to gender-affirming health care that a person receives in Minnesota. As neighboring states including South Dakota and Iowa implement their bans on life-saving health care for transgender patients, Democratic Governor Tim Walz wants the community to know they can get the care they need and feel supported in the state of Minnesota. 

“We want every Minnesotan to grow up feeling safe, valued, protected, celebrated, and free to exist as their authentic versions of themselves,” Walz informs.

“Protecting and supporting access to gender-affirming health care is essential to being a welcoming and supportive state.” Implementing this bill is necessary for trans youth and adults who have had their hormone therapy or gender-affirming treatments banned or prohibited in their residences. It will ensure that those not getting the support they need will be able to come to Minnesota to receive that care without fear of legal repercussions. The first openly LGBTQ woman elected to the Minnesota state senate, and Bill co-sponsor Clare Oumou Verbeten, wants us to know the importance cannot be overstated.

“I wish that other legislatures across this country shared our values. They don’t. But guess what? If you need gender-affirming care — and that is life-saving care, it’s medically necessary care. If you need it, you can come to Minnesota,” She tells. “If you’re scared, or you’re looking for a new place to build your family, we want you here in Minnesota. We want you to take refuge here.”

Minnesota senate bill SF23 prohibits the barbaric practice of conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is defined as any practice by a mental health professional that seeks to change a person’s gender identity, or sexual orientation. Conversion therapy includes attempts to change behaviors or gender expressions that do not fit into the cisgender and heterosexual lifestyle in an attempt to eliminate any sexual or romantic attraction towards individuals of the same gender identity.

The proposed legislation would ensure that no mental health professional or licensed practitioners would be able to engage in the practice of conversion therapy with vulnerable adults and anyone under the age of 18. Furthermore, the bill guarantees that any violation under the new law would be regarded as unprofessional conduct by a mental health professional, resulting in disciplinary action. The author of the bill, democratic state senator Scott Dibble had this to say in support at the first hearing.

“Today marks a giant step in the right direction to affirm that being LGBTQ+ is normal, healthy, and natural,”  Dibble exclaims.

“Conversion therapy is a harmful and discredited barbaric practice that needs to be banned. The medical and scientific community has been clear that individuals deserve to be affirmed and supported for who they are. By banning the practice, we show LGBTQ+ Minnesotans that they are loved and valued.”

Conversion therapy is harmful to a number of reasons, but one of the most notable is that it perpetuates a stereotype that has plagued the LGBTQ community for decades, that homosexuality is a mental illness that needs to be or even can be changed. “We celebrate the passage of this important bill, which sends a powerful message of acceptance. Every person deserves to live their lives authentically and without fear of damaging efforts to try to change who they are.”

Human Rights Campaign Legal Director Sarah Warbelow says. “Even as LGBTQ+ people are under attack in statehouses nationwide, Minnesota has taken steps towards progressing LGBTQ+ rights. Banning ‘conversion therapy’ is a critical step towards creating a more just and compassionate society. We thank the Minnesota State Legislature for their leadership on this issue and look forward to Governor Walz signing this ban into law.”

As various states scramble to impose bans and curb reproductive health care, Governor Walz of Minnesota signed legislation to make the state a sanctuary for abortion patients from all over the country. “Look, I don’t know how hard this concept is to understand,” Walz says.

“When someone else is given basic rights, others don’t lose theirs. We’re not cutting a pie here. We’ve given basic rights to every single Minnesotan.” House file 366, otherwise known as the reproductive freedom defense act will make Minnesota the first state to codify these kinds of protections into law.

HF366 will ensure that both Minnesotans and those traveling from other states where abortion access is denied or limited will be able to access the lifesaving care they need without fear of legal repercussions.

“I am so proud that in Minnesota, we are standing with people and we are saying, ‘We will not police your body in our state,’” says state senator and author of the abortion bill Kelly Morrison. “We are saying that you are safe in Minnesota. We are saying that we will protect your bodily autonomy in Minnesota.” 

All three of these bills passed the democratic controlled house earlier this session, the trans refugee bill (House File 146) passed 34-30, SF23 prohibiting conversion therapy passed 36-27, and the reproductive freedom defense act passed 34-29.

“The through-thread in all of these, of course, is people should be free,” Dibble says. “People should have the liberties that are guaranteed in our constitution, people should have the right to self-determination, and in Minnesota, people should be free from the laws of other states that would impact and negatively affect all of those basic American rights and freedoms.”

Photo courtesy of Twitter