The state recorded eight deaths among infants who survived abortion attempts during Tim Walz’s tenure as governor.
Kirk and Solomon’s claims are correct. Minnesota Department of Health documents show that eight infants were born alive during abortion procedures between 2019 and 2022, and, in 2023, Walz signed legislation that repealed most of a statute designed to protect infants born alive after an abortion attempt.
Born-alive infants in Minnesota.
Minnesota state law explicitly protected children born alive during abortion procedures since at least 1976 when the state legislature adopted Section 145.423. This statute determined that, “A live child born as a result of an abortion shall be fully recognized as a human person, and accorded immediate protection under the law.” It also read, “All reasonable measures consistent with good medical practice, including the compilation of appropriate medical records, shall be taken to preserve the life and health of the child.”
In 2015, the Minnesota state legislature passed additional legislation, signed into law by Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, intended to expand the state’s protections for born-alive infants. The Born Alive Infants Protection Act made minor terminology changes to the existing three subsections of Section 145.423, and added an additional six subsections including those covering civil penalties for medical personnel who did not provide adequate care, privacy protections for court proceedings related to born-alive infants, and the status of born alive-infants who survive following an abortion procedure. The act also formally defined “born-alive infants” as “every infant member of the species Homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development.”
