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Pro-life groups appeal dismissal of lawsuit challenging Minnesota abortion laws
A coalition of pro-life groups are asking for their lawsuit challenging pro-abortion laws in Minnesota to be reinstated, with arguments scheduled to begin next week.
In 2024, several pro-life groups sued the state of Minnesota, arguing that the state's pro-abortion laws are unconstitutional.
A federal court dismissed the lawsuit in 2025.
The groups have appealed the dismissal, with arguments to begin at the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals next week.
Several pro-life groups filed a lawsuit in 2024, challenging Minnesota laws protecting abortion.
The plaintiffs include the Women’s Life Care Center; the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates; Dakota Hope Clinic; David Billings, MD; Dawn Schreifels, MD; and three mothers who say they underwent involuntary (coerced) abortions.
According to the lawsuit, the three women “were all subjected to the termination of their parental rights and relationships with their children by involuntary and unwanted abortions.”
The lawsuit was filed against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead, and Planned Parenthood Minnesota, arguing that the state's existing abortion laws “have the irreparable termination of the pregnant mother’s relationship with her child by terminating the life of her child without providing any due process protections or the equal protection of the law.”
Additionally, the lawsuit claimed the abortion laws...
violate the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment due process clause.
lack adequate informed consent requirements.
The suit also claims that abortion is not a medical treatment.
In 2025, US District Judge Nancy Brasel dismissed the lawsuit, saying there is no constitutional right regarding the relationship between a pregnant mother and her preborn child.
“The intellectually honest approach in this case would be for Plaintiffs to acknowledge that they are seeking to establish a new fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment’s substantive due process clause,” she wrote. “Plaintiffs are perfectly entitled to try and establish such a right. But they have continued to argue that such a right already exists in case law, which is simply not true.”
The pro-life groups have appealed the dismissal, and are requesting for the lawsuit to be reinstated.
In a June 12 filing, the coalition argued that Brasel wrongly dismissed the suit, and that Minnesota's abortion laws don't do enough to protect pregnant women. They further argued that abortionists should be considered government actors, as the state authorizes them to commit abortions.
The groups also argued that they have standing to sue, as Minnesota's laws harm their patients, interfere with their work, and require them to spend additional resources assisting pregnant women.
In addition to having their lawsuit reinstated, they asked for the lower court to issue a preliminary injunction preventing the abortionists named in the lawsuit from committing abortions under Minnesota's current laws.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments from both sides on November 18 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Each side will have 15 minutes to make its case before three judges, who will decide whether the original dismissal should stand.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
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·Pro-life groups appeal dismissal of lawsuit challenging Minnesota abortion laws
A coalition of pro-life groups are asking for their lawsuit challenging pro-abortion laws in Minnesota to be reinstated, with arguments scheduled to begin next week.
In 2024, several pro-life groups sued the state of Minnesota, arguing that the state's pro-abortion laws are unconstitutional.
A federal court dismissed the lawsuit in 2025.
The groups have appealed the dismissal, with arguments to begin at the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals next week.
Several pro-life groups filed a lawsuit in 2024, challenging Minnesota laws protecting abortion.
The plaintiffs include the Women’s Life Care Center; the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates; Dakota Hope Clinic; David Billings, MD; Dawn Schreifels, MD; and three mothers who say they underwent involuntary (coerced) abortions.
According to the lawsuit, the three women “were all subjected to the termination of their parental rights and relationships with their children by involuntary and unwanted abortions.”
The lawsuit was filed against Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Governor Tim Walz, Minnesota Department of Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead, and Planned Parenthood Minnesota, arguing that the state's existing abortion laws “have the irreparable termination of the pregnant mother’s relationship with her child by terminating the life of her child without providing any due process protections or the equal protection of the law.”
Additionally, the lawsuit claimed the abortion laws...
violate the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment due process clause.
lack adequate informed consent requirements.
The suit also claims that abortion is not a medical treatment.
In 2025, US District Judge Nancy Brasel dismissed the lawsuit, saying there is no constitutional right regarding the relationship between a pregnant mother and her preborn child.
“The intellectually honest approach in this case would be for Plaintiffs to acknowledge that they are seeking to establish a new fundamental right under the Fourteenth Amendment’s substantive due process clause,” she wrote. “Plaintiffs are perfectly entitled to try and establish such a right. But they have continued to argue that such a right already exists in case law, which is simply not true.”
The pro-life groups have appealed the dismissal, and are requesting for the lawsuit to be reinstated.
In a June 12 filing, the coalition argued that Brasel wrongly dismissed the suit, and that Minnesota's abortion laws don't do enough to protect pregnant women. They further argued that abortionists should be considered government actors, as the state authorizes them to commit abortions.
The groups also argued that they have standing to sue, as Minnesota's laws harm their patients, interfere with their work, and require them to spend additional resources assisting pregnant women.
In addition to having their lawsuit reinstated, they asked for the lower court to issue a preliminary injunction preventing the abortionists named in the lawsuit from committing abortions under Minnesota's current laws.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments from both sides on November 18 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Each side will have 15 minutes to make its case before three judges, who will decide whether the original dismissal should stand.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
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