The Supreme Court of the United States has opened a debate that has the opportunity to overturn the famous 1973 Roe v. Wade case, which legalized abortion.

For Minnesota, bans or restrictions on abortions are unlikely according to the Guttmacher Institute, an organization focused on research and policy of abortions primarily in the United States.
Additionally, according to a poll by Pew Research Center, 52% of Minnesotans think abortions in some form should be legal. While this is not likely to impact the legal status of abortion in Minnesota, Minnesotan legislators are concerned with this possible ruling and the impact this might have on the country. Senator Tina Smith has been involved in efforts to advocate against the overturning of Roe v. Wade by backing bills that have the potential to change the outcome of the trial in the supreme court.
While pro choice advocates continue to fight against these potential changes. Pro-life supporters continue developing cases to ban and prevent abortions. This effort has been a work in progress since the legalization of abortions with success along the way in states that tend to pro-life. In 2019 Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine passed the “heartbeat law” which prohibited abortions after heartbeat becomes detectable. Now pro life legislators continue working to support the current Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson women’s health organization which would overturn Roe v. Wade.

The Dobbs v. Jackson case questions if elective abortions are constitutional. This case questions if people have a constitutional right to an abortion with Dobbs arguing that pre-viability abortions are unconstitutional. If the case passes it would not only overturn Roe v. Wade, but also allow pro-life leaning states to continue to prevent and in some cases completely ban abortions. This case follows recent attempts to ban and prevent abortions in various states with much buzz specifically surrounding Texas, where Dobbs v. Jackson focuses on a Mississippi law that banned abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Within the SPA community students have mixed feelings about the overturning. Junior Joey Stolpestad shared “I don’t think kids are fit to like, have a kid sometimes.” He goes on to reflect on how in the immediate SPA community many students have the resources to support a child, but most teenagers in the state and the country do not have these resources. Additionally, he said “It’s obviously a challenge… that would change your entire life.” While most people fall under pro-choice or pro-life even within those identifiers people disagree.

As senior Sarah Oppenheim said, “it’s making it more clear, [because] before I feel like it was easier for [people] to just use the umbrella term of ‘I’m [pro-life]’.” While students shared their opinions on the current status of the abortion debate, many felt uninformed about what was happening in the senate and the implications of this. “I don’t really know the details exactly just because I don’t pay too close attention to it, but I have overheard my mom and dad talking about it,” said Oppenheim.

While it seems unlikely that Minnesota will ban abortion, Minnesotan legislators and government officials are working to advocate against bans throughout the country, and these legislators are listening to the people of Minnesota’s concerns about abortion bans throughout the country.