Like many states, pro-abortion legislators in Minnesota are working to make abortion until birth a constitutional right. Pro-life advocates are fighting back with an ad, and CBS Minnesota published an article claiming the ad was “misleading.” Yet the article then went on to affirm that the points made in the ad were, in fact, accurate.
The ad was published by Minnesota Citizens Concerned For Life (MCCL), and said that the state has the most extreme pro-abortion laws in the country. “That claim is misleading,” CBS Minnesota said, before immediately admitting, “It is true that Minnesota has one of the most pro-abortion rights laws in the nation. Abortion laws differ and can be interpreted differently.”
This is in reference to the Protective Reproductive Options (PRO) Act, which was signed into law last year, and though abortion was already legal in Minnesota, it was meant to give another layer of protection to abortion access. It also allowed abortions to be committed at any time, for any reason, no matter how far along in the pregnancy. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion organization which previously served as the research arm for Planned Parenthood, Minnesota and four other states are listed as “very protective” of abortion, with only two states being more “protective” of abortion than Minnesota.
CBS Minnesota then admitted it’s true that an abortion can be committed up until birth in the state — but tried to argue that it doesn’t matter, because it doesn’t happen often. “[We] reviewed 15 years of state data that found from 2008 to 2022, of the tens of thousands of abortions performed, only two were performed between 31 and 36 weeks and none were performed after 36 weeks,” they wrote.
So nothing about the MCCL ad was actually misleading; Minnesota does permit abortions to be committed through birth. And while there are far more abortions committed earlier in pregnancy, that doesn’t mean late abortions, often referred to as “late-term” abortions, simply do not happen. And what’s particularly interesting is that Minnesota decided in 2023 that it will no longer report data on babies who survive abortions. Those babies would have been aborted late in pregnancy. This is troubling, because infants do continue to survive abortion, including in Minnesota. As recently as 2021, a report found that five children survived attempted abortions in Minnesota. Preceding years showed similar numbers of babies born alive after abortion attempts. Now, abortionists not only do not have to report a baby born alive, they are not required to give that child medical care, either… meaning the baby can simply be left to die, and it will remain unreported to the state.
According to the CDC Abortion Surveillance Report, 1.0% of all abortions were committed after 21 weeks gestation. With 378,395 total abortions committed, that equals roughly 3,790 late abortions committed when the preborn child could potentially survive after birth. However, not every state reports abortion data to the CDC, meaning the true number is almost certainly higher.
Data from the Guttmacher Institute reports a significantly higher number of abortions; in 2017, it reported 862,320 abortions, while the CDC data for the same year was staggeringly lower: 368,044. The number of late abortions being committed seems to remain roughly the same, at around 1%; Guttmacher’s report noted that it was, specifically, 1.3%. Using their numbers, this equates to approximately 11,210 late abortions.
Late abortions may not be as commonplace as early abortions… but that doesn’t make MCCL’s claim misleading, or even imply that they don’t happen.
Additionally, CBS Minnesota downplayed an abortion amendment being considered by pro-abortion Democrats; this amendment would codify the existing abortion law into the constitution. “But the claim needs some context — a constitutional amendment needs to be approved by the legislature and a majority of voters. Most proposed amendments fail,” the article said. “Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, one of the powerful figures in the state government, says she wants the issue on the ballot in 2026 — not 2024.”
This is true: the ballot initiative is under consideration for voters in 2026. However, legislators are looking to pass it now, in this legislative session, so it can be put to voters in 2026. That means this is an issue affecting Minnesotans now, and contacting lawmakers to express their opposition, as MCCL asks viewers to do, is not misleading or lacking context.
CBS Minnesota failed to point out the amendment is up for debate this session, making it seem as if this is a far-off concern that no one reasonable would worry about now. The amendment also can’t be shrugged off because “most proposed amendments fail.” In fact, multiple states have passed pro-abortion amendments and others are soon to be on the ballot. But encouraging readers to essentially ignore a pro-abortion amendment hardly seems like honest journalism.
The simple truth is, Minnesota is one of the most pro-abortion states in the country… and unwittingly, CBS Minnesota pointed out that everything pro-life advocates said about the state’s extremism is, in fact, true.
