State licensing and inspections of abortion clinics, plus cutting funding for Planned Parenthood — those top the agenda of a major pro-life group for the upcoming legislative session which begins next week. Republicans will control both the state House and Senate, but Scott Fischbach with Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life cautions, “It is important to remember that the governor, Dayton, still is there and he does have two more years, and he has been a roadblock in the past. So we have to make sure that our expectations are real going into the session also.” He says they hope to gain additional leverage because Republicans will have a majority not only in the Minnesota House but the Senate as well.
Fischbach adds that much depends on what happens in Washington D.C. “The Trump administration has said that they’re going to address… [Planned Parenthood funding] within the first hundred days, so we do need to see.. how far are they going to go, what can they get done on the federal level, before we address it here on the state level,” he says. Democratic Governor Mark Dayton would likely oppose any funding cuts to Planned Parenthood.
Here’s the interview with Fischbach: