Minnesota Department of Health

News Release

June 30, 2003

Contact information

Information for Woman’s Right to Know Act now available online
July 1 is effective date for health care providers to make certain information available to women considering abortion

Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dianne Mandernach today announced that information required by the new Woman’s Right to Know Act is now available on the MDH Web site. The information is being made available electronically in time for the July 1 effective date of the law. Print versions will be made available at a later date. The Woman’s Right to Know Act, passed during the 2003 legislative session, directed MDH to create materials about pregnancy and abortion procedures that health care providers are required to make available to women considering abortion. The materials cover such things as:

• The gestational development of a child, in two-week increments.
• The medical risks associated with having an abortion or carrying a child to term.
• The probable gestational age of the unborn child at the time an abortion is to be performed.
• Information about commonly used abortion procedures.
• Geographically indexed information about agencies and services—including adoption agencies—available to assist a female through pregnancy, child birth, and while the child is a dependent.

The legislation requires providers to begin making this information available to women on July 1; however, the Legislature gave MDH until Sept. 29 to finish creating print and Web-based versions of the materials. The department moved up its timeline so that providers would have the resources they need to begin complying with the law on July 1. “We heard from providers that they were seeking guidance from us as early as possible,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dianne Mandernach. “That’s why we worked very hard to create electronic versions of the required information by July 1; we’ll have final printed versions ready as soon as possible, but no later than the Sept. 29 deadline.”

Mandernach noted that the materials can be viewed and downloaded from the department’s Web site. The site contains a question-and-answer fact sheet, a link to the law, a booklet called Abortion: Making a Decision, and a resource list, called If You are Pregnant: A directory of services available to women.

Providers are required to make the information available to women at least 24 hours before an abortion is to be performed. They are also required to notify women that medical assistance benefits may be available for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care, and that the father is liable to assist in the support of the child. According to the law, the woman considering an abortion must certify, in writing, prior to the abortion, that the required information was made available to her. The physician who is to perform the abortion or the physician’s agent obtains a copy of the written certification and retains it on file with the female’s medical record for at least three years. Providers are then required to report to MDH how often the information is made available to women.

Mandernach said that her department will schedule meetings with providers and other constituent groups closely involved with the law to gather input about the informational materials before final versions are printed later this summer.

Eighteen other states—including North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Nebraska—have laws similar to Minnesota’s Woman’s Right to Know Act.

-MDH-

For more information, contact:

John Stieger
MDH Communications
(651) 215-1301

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