Sahan Journal recently spoke with the Hennepin County Attorney primary candidates about their campaigns. Their answers to each question have been edited for length and clarity.
If Roe v. Wade is overturned, do you plan to prosecute abortion cases in Hennepin County?
Paul Ostrow:
No, I do not. I’ll be focusing on people that are selling fentanyl to our kids, people that are making our communities unsafe, and I will not be prosecuting women for exercising their right to choose.
Mary Moriarty:
No. It certainly will have an impact on other states, and we know that other states are trying to get legislation that would prosecute people for coming to another state to get an abortion.
You never know what will happen here. We do have some laws in place that are helpful. Whatever happens, I will not prosecute abortion cases or providers that protect people’s right to reproductive rights.
Saraswati Singh:
No. I would keep proceeding as if Roe v. Wade was not overturned. I’m pro-choice. I’ve also handled sexual assault cases. This is not a surprise, but sometimes when people are sexually assaulted, they get pregnant. I’m not going to prosecute a child or an adult for getting an abortion.
We already have plenty of work to do. We have to address the murders and the carjacking and the sexual assaults. Those are really important to me. I don’t need to charge all these women.
Martha Holton Dimick:
I was a single mom at 19 and that was pre–Roe v. Wade. The option was open to me in Wisconsin—of which I was not anywhere interested in—of a back-alley abortion. My father wanted me to go to an unwed mothers’ home and give up my daughter if I didn’t get married. But I chose to have my beautiful daughter.
I will not interfere with any woman’s choice. I am pro-choice. It’s none of my business what anybody else does. I will not prosecute anyone if they get an abortion. But I’m pretty sure Minnesota is not going to let that fly. We’re just too liberal for that.
I will not prosecute any woman if she gets an abortion.
No. And it’s important for people to be aware that we do have a state constitutional protection for access to abortion services. Roe v. Wade is a federal Supreme Court decision that says that under the U.S. Constitution, women have a right to privacy, and that privacy includes the right to make decisions about abortion without coercion from the government.
We have a similar state Supreme Court decision called Doe v. Gomez, which not only provides for state constitutional protection for access to abortion, but requires the state to fund access to abortion services for low-income women. As long as that protection is in place, access to abortion services in Minnesota will be legal.
Short answer is no. The long answer is no.
Tad Jude:
We would have to follow the law–whatever the law is. We’re under oath to administer the law. It’s not a policy-setting position from that standpoint.
To be a county attorney is to administer the constitution and the law, and I don’t expect that law is going to change in Minnesota during the next four years.