Susan Neuville, left, gives remarks during a news conference Sept. 13 at the Minnesota State Capitol by a pro-life group called MOMS — Mothers Offering Maternal Support. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

It’s a busy time of year for St. Paul residents Susan and John Neuville, parents of five children, including two teenage girls. As the school year began, they faced a growing stack of permission slips and release forms for their children’s sports clubs and activities.

“I’m required to supply the name of another adult to contact in case of emergency to advise on treatment if I’m unreachable,” Susan said. Without adult permission, her children cannot go on a field trip, have their photo taken, receive basic dental care, be vaccinated or be served ice cream.

“What I would like to understand is how it would make any sense to have that same child decide whether or not to have an abortion,” she said during a news conference at the Minnesota Capitol Sept. 13. “Wouldn’t this be the most critical time to ensure that she has the best support available, most likely her own parents?”

On July 11, a Ramsey County District Court judge struck six protections regarding abortion — long-standing laws passed through the legislative process with bipartisan support, said Maggee Hangge, policy and public relations associate at Minnesota Catholic Conference. The law requiring that both parents be notified at least 48 hours before an abortion is performed on a minor, for example, had been in place for 41 years. The 2003 woman’s right to know law, also struck down, required that women know the gestational age of their unborn child, the risks of carrying the child to term and of the abortion procedure, and that they be offered information on the baby’s development and alternatives to abortion. 

Other protections struck down include a 24-hour waiting period before a woman can have an abortion; a requirement that only physicians perform abortions; an abortion data reporting law requiring reporting of information such as reasons for a given abortion, the abortion method used and the stage of fetal development; and a law requiring that abortions performed after the first trimester be done in a hospital. In his 140-page ruling, Judge Thomas Gilligan Jr. wrote that “These abortion laws violate the right to privacy because they infringe upon the fundamental right under the Minnesota Constitution to access abortion care and do not withstand strict scrutiny.”

A pro-life group called MOMS — Mothers Offering Maternal Support, a group of about 50 mothers of at least one minor daughter — held the news conference decrying the judge’s decision. Susan Neuville is a member of the group.

Teresa Collett, a law professor and director of the Prolife Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, is serving in a private capacity as lead counsel for MOMS. She filed a motion to intervene as a party to the lawsuit on behalf of the MOMS group Sept. 12 because only those who are party to a lawsuit can appeal a court ruling, Collett said.

The motion to intervene covered the four protections that specifically pertained to MOMS’ interest in protecting the health and safety of their daughters: parental notification, informed consent, physicians only and the waiting period. 

Two other members of MOMS spoke at the news conference, along with Collett. Renee Carlson, general counsel for Minneapolis-based True North Legal, emceed the conference.

During an interview for the “Practicing Catholic” radio show that aired Sept. 30, Collett said members of MOMS came together out of their concern to protect not only their daughters, but all Minnesota women, from overreaching by the abortion industry. “We have now … asked that the trial court allow us to come in and defend these laws in a way that the attorney general of the state did not,” she said. “And that’s really the crux of the complaint.”

On Oct. 19, both the plaintiffs — which include an obstetrician-gynecologist who performs abortions and a Minneapolis nonprofit, Our Justice, that provides financial and logistical help to people seeking an abortion — and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who has declined to appeal the ruling, objected to the MOMS’ attempt to intervene. The MOMS’ legal team will respond to the objections, Carlson said.  

While the MOMS arguments to intervene were expected to face an uphill battle, Hangge said, “these MOMS have stepped in where public officials have failed to lead. That is a witness that should inspire all of us.”

Susan Neuville’s husband, John, is the son of the late Tom Neuville, a Catholic Republican state senator in Minnesota for 17 years (1991-2008) who ran on a pro-life platform in Northfield in 1990, Susan said. He believed in the sanctity of life and defending the rights of the mother and unborn, and coauthored the woman’s right to know legislation in 2003 that now has been declared unconstitutional, Susan said.  

A tooth filling can be replaced, Susan said, but a life ended through abortion cannot be revived.  

“I believe that all women, especially those underage, should be empowered with a complete understanding of the important aspects of any medical procedure and especially one that is irreversible, potentially life ending and bearing lifelong consequences.”

Another member of MOMS, Barbara Waldorf, a mother of seven, including four daughters, also spoke at the news conference. Her late father-in-law, Gene Waldorf, a Democrat state legislator from the east side of St. Paul (House, 1977-1980; Senate, 1981-1992), authored the two-parent notification bill in 1981.

When the bill was drafted, he and other supporters were not trying to put restrictions on abortion, Barbara Waldorf said. But they believed that parents had a right and a responsibility to be aware of major medical procedures that their minor children might have, she said. The bill had broad support from the public and “a good amount of bipartisan support,” she said.

“The language of the bill was carefully chosen because at its core, it wasn’t about whether you were prolife or pro-choice,” Barbara Waldorf said. “It was about protecting the health and safety of young women and girls.”

Dr. Michael Valley, an obstetrician-gynecologist who practices at Chaska and Waconia locations of Western OB/GYN, spoke at the news conference via an audio link. He described the laws Minnesota had in place as providing a layer of protection, including the parental notification provision for minors. “Minors have a decision-making process that is not mature and can benefit from parental adult involvement,” Valley said.

“Minors who undergo other medical procedures are required to have parental involvement and sometimes consent before they undergo the procedure, and abortion should be no different,” he said. It helps parents and, potentially, law enforcement, to be aware of relationships that may be coercive or threatening to the minor, he said.

Mothers who have at least one minor daughter and are interested in becoming involved with the MOMS group can email [email protected].