DFL state Sen. Erin Maye Quade does not think there should be restrictions on abortion at any stage of pregnancy.
“There is no middle ground between the government controls your reproductive freedom, or you do,” the lawmaker from Apple Valley recently told KTSP.
“Asked if there’s any potential for ‘middle ground,’ Sen. @ErinMayeQuade said, ‘There is no middle ground between the government controls your reproductive freedom, or you do.’” https://t.co/XrKcoQaI3d
— UnRestrict Minnesota (@UnRestrictMN) June 25, 2023
Maye Quade, 37, was elected to the Minnesota Senate for District 56 in 2022, when she beat Republican Jim Bean by more than 5,000 votes. A protege of then-Congressman Keith Ellison, she served as a state representative for District 57A from 2016 to 2018.
Maye Quade suggested there should not be limits on when a woman can end the life of the child living in her womb.
“Every pregnancy is so unique, sometimes things happen later in pregnancy, sometimes medical situations change sometimes, you know, the health and safety of people change, and we have to allow appropriate medical care to be given to people at every stage of pregnancy,” she told KTSP.
During the 2023 legislative session, Minnesota Democrats passed the “Protect Reproductive Options Act,” which guarantees the “fundamental right” to abortion at any point in a pregnancy. They also repealed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which granted protections to babies who survive abortions.
Maye Quade was the DFL-endorsed candidate for lieutenant governor in 2018, but she and running mate Erin Murphy ended up losing in the primary to Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
Maye Quade also works for Gender Justice, a pro-LGBT activist group based in Saint Paul that unabashedly promotes gender ideology. Maye Quade told KTSP that more out-of-state women are seeking abortions in Minnesota thanks to Gov. Walz’s signing of abortion laws.
“There were around 900 abortions being performed each month in the beginning of the year. This year, it was about 1,200. And then in March, it was 1,400, so it’s a pretty dramatic increase,” she explained. “People are being pushed later into pregnancy before they can access care, and it’s creating longer waits for people in the state of Minnesota as well.”
An annual report released last week by the Minnesota Department of Health found that abortions increased by 20% in Minnesota in 2022, reaching the highest total since 2009.
Cathy Blaeser, the co-executive director for Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, said Minnesota has done away with all “reasonable protections for unborn children and their mothers.”
“Lawmakers here have enshrined abortion-up-to-birth and repealed common sense laws like informed consent for women and a program providing real alternatives to abortion for those in need. Women and children will pay the price for this extremism,” she said.
The DFL currently has a 70-64 edge the House and a slim 34-33 majority in the Senate.
Stephen Kokx
Stephen Kokx, M.A., is a journalist for LifeSiteNews. He previously worked for the Archdiocese of Chicago under the late Francis Cardinal George. A former community college instructor, Stephen has written and spoken extensively about Catholic social teaching and politics. His essays have appeared in such outlets as Catholic Family News and CatholicVote.org.
