ST. PAUL — Minnesota House Democrats blocked a Republican-backed bill that would have given millions to “crisis pregnancy centers” that discourage patients from getting abortions.
House File 25 by Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar, R-Fredenberg Township, would have granted $3 million in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 to crisis pregnancy centers, which offer services to pregnant women while dissuading them from turning to abortions.
The bill would have provided an additional $1 million in the same years to maternity homes, which are group housing centers where women with nowhere else to go can live if they are pregnant or just gave birth.
The bill would have prohibited eligible centers from encouraging or providing abortions to pregnant women.
The bill died on March 13 on a party line vote. Sixty-seven Republicans voted for it, and 65 Democrats voted against. A bill needs 68 votes to pass.
Zeleznikar said in an interview that the bill would have given vulnerable women a choice to carry their pregnancy to term instead of having an abortion.
From 2005 to 2023, the Legislature granted millions of dollars to crisis pregnancy centers through the Positive Alternatives to Abortion program. Democrats axed the program after taking full control at the Capitol amid a wave of abortion rights support following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Zeleznikar wants to reinstate the grants and fund maternity homes.
“I think that there's a reason that existed for 17 years, and there's no reason for it to have been removed in 2023, except to give less options to women,” Zeleznikar said.
Rep. Kristin Bahner, DFL-Maple Grove, said at a Health Finance and Policy meeting on Feb. 12 that the bill would actually restrict women from making a choice, because it prohibits centers from offering referrals to abortion clinics if a woman desires one.
Bahner said her own mother considered having an abortion at 19 years old.
“I’m thankful that she had a loving and supportive family that was willing to do everything necessary to care for her and for me and to give us what we needed, but I also know that’s not the reality for every family,” Bahner said.
Bahner and several other Democratic representatives declined requests for an interview.
Zeleznikar said the bill prohibited centers from offering referrals because women can learn about other options elsewhere.
“Everybody has a cellphone, you can get any information in a two-minute radius or 20-mile radius,” Zeleznikar said.
Erin Heisler Wagner, senior director of strategic communications at Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund, said that Planned Parenthood already helps women with more than just birth control and abortions.
“We support every patient that walks through our door that is looking for a wide range of sexual and reproductive health care, and we support talking them through all of their options,” Heisler Wagner said in an interview.
Heisler Wagner said crisis pregnancy centers are not subject to health and safety standards that medical providers must follow, which is dangerous for patients.
A 2022 statement from the office of Attorney General Keith Ellison warned pregnant women that crisis pregnancy centers deceive women to prevent them from getting abortions. Twenty percent of Minnesota crisis pregnancy centers claimed to have a registered nurse on staff and only 9% claimed to have a physician, according to the statement.
Zeleznikar pushed for a similar bill in 2024, and she said she plans to present this bill again in the future.
“I'll just keep working on it to the best of my ability and see if we can get as many options for women as possible,” Zeleznikar said.
Report for Minnesota is a project of the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication to support local news in all areas of the state.