With the current COVID-19 crisis, it is imperative that we put our community’s health first. Unfortunately, anti-abortion extremists continue to gather around abortion clinics to harass, shame, and intimidate patients and clinic staff. Not only is this cruel behavior, but it is dangerous to patients’ safety and to the safety of essential health care workers inside the clinics. In North Carolina, we are seeing protesters attempting to capitalize on the pandemic by coughing in escorts faces. This is not something we will tolerate in Minnesota.

Governor Walz issued a Stay at Home Order to protect Minnesotans from COVID-19, which went into effect on March 27th, 2020. Anti-abortion extremists must be held to the same standard as the rest of the state — they shouldn’t be allowed to continue being a public health nuisance during this crisis. It’s imperative that we put our community’s safety and dignity above all else.

This photo was posted by an extremist on Saturday, March 28th, showcasing their disregard for health and safety. No one should be proud to have many people out in the streets on the first day of the Stay at Home order.

We call on the Robbinsdale and Duluth Police Departments to put an end to these harmful, hazardous gatherings outside health clinics. We ask that they break up the gatherings as they occur to protect the safety of the patients and health care workers.