Min-Ne-So-Ta Hats off to Thee!

Today on 'Why are the Republicans Wasting my Time?' we turn to my home state of Minnesota. Like every other state in this country, MN has joined several other states in jumping on the Abortion Bandwagon initially started by the controversial HR 3 (No Taxpayer Funded Abortion) and HR358 (Protect Life Act). So far into the session, the GOP has introduced 3 anti-abortion bills-- specifically targeting state funding for abortion. Normally this wouldn't be that big of a time waster, as the MN legislature had held a democratic majority for the previous 20 years. But that all changed in the election that killed puppies and the GOP gain a 55% majority in both houses. The good news is that we have our first democratic governor in 20 years, so... (look, this is the state that sent both Al Franken and Michelle Bachmann to DC and had Jesse Venture as a governor-- we do this).

So, a bit more of a time waster because in all likelihood the GOP will go through all this trouble to get the law passed only to have Dayton veto it. And, unfortunately, in all likelihood the GOP will go through the trouble to try and overturn the veto. They have about a 55% majority in both houses. They could potentially do it.

And then the Minnesota Supreme Court would overturn the law so fast it would make their heads spin.

Because guess what? In 1995 the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that state healthcare programs must cover reproductive procedures, including abortions (Doe vs. Gomez). No limits, no timeline, no bans except for the three exceptions, no bans including the three exceptions, no nothing. In Minnesota, if you are covered by state healthcare, you have the constitutional right to an abortion. And while yes, the MN Supreme Court is more conservative now than it was in 95, precedent in the legal system goes a lot farther than a judge's bias. I don't think Doe vs. Gomez has any chance of being struck down.

Which makes this a huge waste of time for the MN legislature when they promised that no social converative issues would be tackled until the jobs thing was taken care of. Uh-huh.

So maybe the GOP should be looking into changing the MN constitution. Of course, then they would have to admit that they're actually not doing anything about jobs and I can't imagine that going over too well.