Maggee Hangge testifies in Opposition to abortion provisions in H.F. 2930

Madame Chair and members of the committee:

My name is Maggee Hangge, policy associate for the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Minnesota. I am here today to share our opposition to multiple sections within H.F. 2930, particularly relating to abortion.

If this bill were to pass, it would force even more tax dollars from hard working Minnesotans to be used to fund elective abortions in our state. The Minnesota Catholic Bishops have consistently supported health care reform derived from our core values: respect for the dignity of every human person; preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; and advancing the common good.

But healthcare should never be used to take or destroy life. It is and insult for public funds to be used in this way. Over the course of 10 years, Minnesota paid nearly $24 million dollars in abortion reimbursements.[1] And that is only through one funding stream, there are more.

Unfortunately, with this significant change, MinnesotaCare and Medical Assistance will no longer respect the dignity of every human person, including pre-born children. And this change will prohibit our Church, which helped craft MinnesotaCare, from supporting the program going forward, including MinnesotaCare for the coverage for the undocumented, on which we have been strong advocates.

This bill also threatens to remove the abortion reporting requirement.

These reports are filled with valuable data from which all Minnesotans benefit. The information they contain can help our society and government address the economic and racial disparities that impact pregnant Minnesotans. Not everyone who obtains an abortion truly wants to do so. If a mother desires to carry her baby to term, it is our duty as a community to support and guide her. We can do so best when we know the difficulties she faces in the decision-making process.

H.F. 2930 also seeks to essentially repeal the born alive infant protection act, the requirement that an abortion must be performed in a hospital after the first trimester, and that a physician must perform the abortion.

Is this really the society that we want to create here in Minnesota? Do we truly want to expand taxpayer funding of abortion and remove nearly all commonsense health and safety protections?

It seems that instead of trying to truly help women, we are bowing to Big Abortion and working to create a world in which they rule, and we follow.

Please remove these provisions that would expand and unrestrict abortion in our state. Thank you. 

[1] Star tribune article: https://www.startribune.com/anti-abortion-group-renews-effort-to-ban-state-dollars-for-abortion/418685933/