Walz on defense over Minnesota law about doctors, botched abortions

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was put on the defensive during the vice presidential debate Tuesday when asked about his state's law on babies surviving botched abortions.

Former President Donald Trump said in the last presidential debate in September that Harris' "vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine."

Walz was asked about Trump's statement during Tuesday's debate.

"The question got asked and Donald Trump made the accusation that wasn't true about Minnesota," Walz said.

Later, Vance said, "[a]nd maybe you're free to disagree with me on this and explain this to me, but as I read the Minnesota law that you signed into into law, the statute that you signed into law, it says that a doctor who presides over an abortion where the baby survives, the doctor is under no obligation to provide life-saving care to a baby who survives a botched late-term abortion."

Walz pushed back, claiming, "[t]his is a very simple proposition. These are women's decisions to make about their healthcare decisions, and the physicians who know best when they need to do this. Trying to distort the way a law is written to try and make a point, that's not it at all."

When Vance asked Walz if what he said that was incorrect, Walz responded, "That is not the way the law is written."

In Walz’s state and on his watch, five infants were "born alive" in 2021 during failed abortions, and none received life-saving care, though two got “comfort care,” the Minnesota Department of Health reported on July 1, 2022.

Three other infants were "born alive" during abortions in 2019, Walz’s first year as governor, and they too perished without life-saving care, according to a July 1, 2020, report from the same state agency.

Minnesota required such born-alive abortions to be publicly reported, creating a powerful statistic for pro-life and anti-abortion forces to draw upon.

But in 2023, Walz worked with his new Democrat-controlled Legislature to eliminate both the reporting requirement and the state’s legal obligation for doctors, nurses and medical professionals to administer life-saving care to infants born alive during an abortion procedure.