Case Details and History

On May 29, 2019, Gender Justice, in partnership with the Lawyering Project, filed a complaint in the Second Judicial District of Minnesota on behalf of two healthcare providers, the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, and Our Justice. The lawsuit, Doe v. Minnesota, challenged a host of abortion restrictions on the grounds that they violate the Minnesota State Constitution.

On July 11, 2022, the District Court permanently blocked enforcement of the laws. Anti-abortion activist groups then requested to intervene in the lawsuit and relitigate the case. On May 29th, 2024, the Minnesota Supreme Court denied their request, concluding the legal challenge.

The restrictions blocked by the ruling include:

• A ban on qualified advance-practice clinicians providing abortion care;
• A requirement forcing patients to delay their abortion care by at least 24 hours after consulting with a healthcare provider;
• A requirement that young people notify both parents before they can receive abortion care;
• A requirement forcing abortion providers to give irrelevant and misleading information to their patients;
• A ban on the provision of second-trimester abortion care outside of hospitals; and
• Regulations that subject abortion providers to felony criminal penalties for minor regulatory infractions.

The court held that the Minnesota Constitution protects not just a fundamental right to choose abortion, but also a fundamental right to access abortion care. The Honorable Thomas A Gilligan said: “The right to choose to have an abortion . . . would be meaningless without the right to access abortion care.”

Read the Doe v. Minnesota complaint here