During one of the more heated exchanges in the presidential debate on September 10, former Republican President Donald Trump went after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on abortion rights, claiming Walz has said "abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine."

"He also says execution after birth — it's execution, no longer abortion because the baby is born — is OK, and that's not OK with me," Trump said.

Walz, who is Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, has made abortion rights one of his central issues as he stumps on the campaign trail for the Democratic ticket. He's also taken heat from Republicans — both nationally and in Minnesota — for what they consider extreme abortion policies passed in the state after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

But Walz, while supporting broad access to abortion care, has never said abortion in the ninth month is "absolutely fine," nor has he said that execution of an infant after birth is OK. That is known as infanticide, which is illegal in every state, including Minnesota.

Walz was asked to respond to Trump's false claim during the Oct. 1 debate between Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance. The Minnesota governor used the moment to highlight the state's abortion rights protections.

"Spreading such vile misinformation about abortion is despicable — and completely on brand for Donald Trump," Minnesota U.S. Sen. Tina Smith posted to X on Tuesday. "Women deserve better. So much better."

Minnesota abortion laws

Republicans have criticized bills Walz signed in 2023, including updates to old abortion laws and codifying abortion access protections into statute.

The Protect Reproductive Options Act, which Walz signed in January 2023, reinforced standards established in Doe v. Gomez, a 1995 Minnesota Supreme Court ruling. That ruling affirmed women's right to abortion under the Minnesota constitution and allowed low-income women to use the state's Medical Assistance program to cover the costs of the procedure.

A federal court order issued in 1976 had already struck down viability limits in the state. The Supreme Court ruling did not address gestational age or time limits for the procedure, nor did the law passed by Democrats last year. Republicans and groups that oppose abortion have claimed that means the state now allows "abortion up to birth."

But state data show abortions late in pregnancy are rare, and they don't happen at all after a certain point. While abortions increased by 20% in Minnesota in 2022, none occurred in the eighth month of pregnancy. Only two abortions out of more than 12,000 performed in the state happened between 25 and 30 weeks. More than 10,000 of those abortions happened before the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion provider Planned Parenthood said less than 1% of abortions take place in the third trimester, "and when they do it is often a result of catastrophic medical diagnoses."

Last year, Walz also signed an update to a state law for infants born alive after an abortion attempt. Previously the law stated that "all measures consistent with good medical practice ... shall be taken by the responsible medical personnel to preserve the life and health of the infant who is born alive."

The updated law says medical personnel are required "to care for the infant who is born alive." It also removed a reporting requirement for infants who are born alive after an abortion attempt.

"Under Walz's legislation, viable babies could be set aside, with only comfort care, and allowed to die. Babies with disabilities, whose lives are often devalued, are especially at risk," said Cathy Blaeser, co-executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, the state's largest group opposing abortion.

Supporters of the change say it doesn't get in the way of parents or doctors trying to save the life of the child, but it does give them the option to not engage in medical intervention in rare instances where an infant is born alive with fatal fetal anomalies.

Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, who sponsored the change, said the repealed language was put in place to demonize doctors and imply things were "happening that were not happening."

"It basically said that in these situations, families are not able to make their own decisions. The reality is that abortions late in pregnancy don't happen unless there's a real reason like a medical emergency, like a non-viable fetus, like a fetus that will only live briefly outside of the womb," she said.

"The whole thing is intended to make it sound like people are having abortions late in pregnancy for no good reason, and that's just not true."