December 31, 2024 | Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS — Abortions in Minnesota increased 16 percent to a 20-year high of 14,124 in 2023, according to a report released today by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). Lawmakers that year enshrined into state statute a policy of abortion-up-to-birth and repealed numerous longstanding abortion-related laws, including laws ensuring informed consent for women and providing practical assistance for those who do not want to have abortions.
“We are now seeing the real-life consequences of DFL extremism,” said MCCL Co-Executive Director Cathy Blaeser. “DFL lawmakers and Gov. Walz have sought to make Minnesota a land of truly unlimited abortion—at the expense of women and children. This is not what Minnesotans want to be known for. We want to be a state where both moms and babies receive love and support and where no one is left out.”
The large increase follows a 20 percent rise the previous year, defying a long-term downward trajectory that had seen abortions drop 48 percent from 1980 to 2015. The 2023 total is the highest since 2003. The abortion rate among Minnesota residents rose to 10.1 (abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age), a 9 percent increase over 2022 and a 20 percent jump since 2021.
In 2023, lawmakers changed parts of Minnesota’s abortion reporting law, delaying the release date of the annual MDH report to 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 Lawmakers in 2023 had also repealed a law requiring that reasonable and medically appropriate measures be taken to save the lives of such infants.
“Previous MDH reports show that, in most years, some babies in Minnesota survive abortion and are born alive,” said Blaeser. “But because of the actions of DFL lawmakers and Gov. Walz, there is no longer a requirement to provide born-alive infants with care that could save their lives. And no longer will the public even know about these cases and about whether babies are cared for or left to die.”
Today’s report shows that 2,980 abortions were performed on non-Minnesota residents, a 48 percent increase that reflects Minnesota’s status as an outlier on abortion policy in the region (and, indeed, the world). Chemical (drug-induced) abortions made up 65 percent of the overall total; 768 dilation and evacuation (dismemberment) abortion procedures were performed. 300 abortions took place at 20 weeks or later, a slight increase; the latest was performed at 29 weeks.
A total of 94 complications were reported at the time of the abortion procedure, including cervical laceration and hemorrhage. (Post-operative complications are no longer reported.)
In addition to repealing born-alive infants' right to lifesaving care and removing parts of the abortion reporting law, lawmakers in 2023 repealed numerous other abortion-related laws, including the Woman’s Right to Know informed consent law and the Positive Alternatives Act, which provided grants for programs that assist pregnant women and new mothers. Lawmakers also enacted the PRO Act to create a fundamental right to abortion, without limits at any stage of pregnancy.