To: Governor Tim Walz
Please contact MN Governor Dayton to veto the TRAP bill.
Dear Governor Dayton,
Please veto the Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (TRAP) bill that singles out abortion providers for medically unnecessary politically motivated state regulations.
Abortion providers should not be singled out for unwarranted regulations that have nothing to do with the safe delivery of services for women.
In the United States, more than 90% of all abortions are provided in outpatient facilities and less than 0.3% of abortion patients experience a complication requiring hospitalization. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures provided in the United States and there is no evidence calling for any new regulations.
TRAP bills are not legitimate regulation, but yet another pretext to whittle away at abortion access.
Why is this important?
Please contact Governor Dayton and ask that he veto the Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider (TRAP) bill that singles out abortion providers for medically unnecessary, politically motivated state regulations.
These bills grant broad authority to the state department of health to develop structural and staffing requirements for abortion clinics based on existing hospital guidelines that are not medically necessary or justified. Uniform standards for all outpatient medical procedures have been rejected, and only one procedure - the abortion procedure - is blatantly chosen to regulate.
In the United States abortion providing facilities are regulated with an exceptional safety record and can be recognized as a public safety model for the rest of the world. Abortion providing facilities are already required to abide by a variety of federal and state regulations. These include the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and local, state, building and fire code regulations. In addition, the National Abortion Federation (NAF) has established evidence-based Clinical Policy Guidelines as well as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists professional guidelines for abortion clinics. All medical professionals are required to maintain professional standards and licenses and complete continuing medical education courses.
If Governor Dayton does not veto the TRAP bill, many Minnesota clinics may be forced to close. Many of this clinics are the only abortion providers serving large geographic areas even expanding into neighboring states without providers. In addition to abortion care these clinics are also some of the only providers in Minnesota that provide low cost/free preventative reproductive health care including pap smears, breast exams, low cost birth control, STI testing and emergency contraception to populations in need.
This is urgent. Please sign this petition as soon as possible to ask Governor Dayton to veto the TRAP bill.