Tim Walz orders agencies not to aid prosecution of visiting abortion seekers

A day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can outlaw abortions, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took action to firm up the state’s status as an island where abortion is legal and welcoming to out-of-state residents seeking the procedure.

Walz signed an executive order Saturday directing state agencies — to the extent legally permissible — not to aid agencies from other states if they seek to prosecute their residents for traveling to Minnesota to get abortions or assisting in legal abortions here.

Walz’s move echoes a policy announced by Attorney General Keith Ellison, a fellow Democrat, to not aid in extraditing out-of-state residents if authorities in their home states seek to prosecute them while they’re in Minnesota.

It’s unclear how far such cross-state snubbing could go, since all states are subject to some level of cooperation under federal and constitutional law.

At this point, the threat is hypothetical — but plausible under laws being considered or enacted in other states.

While legal challenges could still come, it appears that abortions are now or soon will be illegal in Wisconsin, South Dakota and North Dakota. Iowa’s Supreme Court recently cleared a path for that state to outlaw abortions as well.

Minnesota’s Supreme Court has ruled that abortions are protected by the state constitution. Attempts by Democrats to enshrine that in statute, however, have been blocked by Republicans for years.

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