ABORTION

Without comment but on a unanimous vote, Prinsburg City Council members in a special meeting Friday, Dec. 2, denied a proposed ordinance that would have allowed residents to bring civil lawsuits against abortion providers.

The town of Prinsburg, pop. 515, is being thrust into the larger, national debate over abortion as it considers an ordinance that would allow residents to file civil lawsuits against abortion providers.

The last remaining DFLer in the Minnesota House who would oppose codifying abortion protections into law appears to be Winona Rep. Gene Pelowski.

Keith Ellison is seeking his second consecutive term as Minnesota's top law enforcement officer while Republican challenger Jim Schultz seeks to break a five decade-long DFL reign in the attorney general’s office.

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the issue has become central to the midterm election in Minnesota's 8th Congressional District.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is vying for a second term, said his GOP opponent Jim Schultz would use the office to restrict abortion access.

A group called Mothers Offering Maternal Support is attempting to intervene after Ramsey County Judge Thomas Gilligan in July tossed several laws restricting abortion, including a 24-hour wait period and a requirement for minors to notify both parents before getting the procedure. Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, who backs abortion rights, declined to file an appeal in the case, arguing his office had spent three years and more than half a million dollars defending the laws in the case Doe v. Minnesota.

Now confronted with a challenge from the other side of the abortion debate, Republican nominee for Minnesota attorney general Jim Schultz continues to downplay the issue’s importance in the race. He argues the attorney general’s office ultimately has very little influence over abortion policy in the state of Minnesota and said the question is fundamentally for the legislature to decide.

Critics say warnings over "post-abortion syndrome" are unsupported by the best evidence and that the state Positive Alternatives Grant Program should not be funding crisis pregnancy centers that endorse it.