State attorney general refuses to defend state law

Keith Ellison

Officials with the Thomas More Law Society have filed a motion to intervene on behalf of Traverse County's county attorney, Matthew Franzese, in an argument over an abortion law.

It's because Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who supports radical abortion policies, is refusing to "do the job" he's appointed to do.

Explained the legal team, "Franzese is stepping up and petitioning to intervene in a lawsuit brought by an anonymous abortionist against the state," and plans to do the work Ellison has a "legal obligation" to do.

In July, Ramsey County Judge Thomas Gilligan overturned Minnesota’s abortion regulations, including a mandatory 24-hour waiting period, a requirement that both parents be notified before a minor can get an abortion, and the law dictating that only physicians can perform abortions.

Ellison said then, as attorney general, he would not go to court to protect a duly adopted state law, because, he claimed, his decision was in the "public interest."

Thomas More Society Special Counsel Erick Kaardal explained, "Ellison, a known supporter of abortion, has allowed an abortionist, and another abortion worker – both of whom have who have concealed their identity – along with an abortion advocacy group and transgender proponents, to attempt to strip away Minnesota’s protective oversight and eliminate any regulation of abortion.

"This is something that the Minnesota constitution prohibits them from doing. And Ellison has chosen to allow them to do this without mounting a reasonable defense. Ellison has publicly committed to 'defend the laws of the state of Minnesota,' without regard for his own personal opinions. And now, in an unconscionable move, the Minnesota attorney general is refusing to appeal a decision that strikes down laws enacted by the legislature as the will of the people."

Ellison's refusal to perform the duties of his position has left other officials in the state in limbo.

Should a state's attorney general defend the state's laws?

Franzese explained Ellison's position as left his own obligation as county attorney uncertain.

The motion notes that the Ramsey County District Court’s decision of July 11, 2022, is "merely the law of this case" and has "no precedential value beyond Ramsey County."

The focus of the filing is that Franzese explains he should have the right to decide, for his own county, to apply state laws – and that a decision in another county should have no impact.

Kaardal said, "Minnesota has laws on the books that are designed to protect women. The unidentified abortionist and her colleagues cannot sue the state in this matter, as dictated by Minnesota’s constitution, because the laws exist, and they have not been charged with violating those laws. Very simply, in Minnesota, if you do not like a law, you cannot sue to eliminate that law unless you have been charged with violating it. If that law has been used against you, then and only then, do you have a private cause of action that entitles you to sue. While Minnesota’s attorney general represented the state in this lawsuit, his defense against this challenge was superficial, and did not utilize this obvious – and often used by his office – constitutional argument."

EDITOR’S NOTE: During the Biden era of rapidly metastasizing madness, the greatest madness of all may be today’s shockingly widespread campaign to indoctrinate, seduce, groom and flat-out RECRUIT America’s children into the dark world of transgenderism. Countless LGBT activists, including many public-school teachers, have taken to proselytizing the new transgender salvation to America’s children, both on social media and within the schools themselves. Even Biden’s far-left Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra fully supports taxpayer-funded amputations of healthy body parts of these vulnerable children, declaring ghoulishly, “We should help those have the life-affirming care that they need.” The result? Untold numbers of America’s kids are being led into lives of not just unending conflict, confusion, suffering, deformity and disability, but far too often – as multiple studies prove – suicide. The whole unbelievable story – including the underlying reasons, almost entirely unreported elsewhere, for what amounts to the most massive child sexual abuse campaign in American history – is explored as never before in the July issue of WND’s critically acclaimed Whistleblower magazine, titled “WHAT’S REALLY BEHIND THE TRANSGENDER CRAZE?”

For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

SUPPORT TRUTHFUL JOURNALISM. MAKE A DONATION TO THE NONPROFIT WND NEWS CENTER. THANK YOU!