Supporting Women's Rights Goes Hand in Hand with Political Violence

A discomforting throughline helps explain the assassination of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman

Among the myriad headlines that roiled the nation last week, rising political violence in the United States was a sickening drumbeat—one that culminated and resounded most loudly during a weekend of targeted shootings directed at two Minnesota state lawmakers and their spouses.

In the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman, accounts of her deep commitment to public service filled the airwaves. She was a beloved parent, spouse, and friend who served as a dogged champion of children, families, and democracy, especially during the pivotal period when she was Democratic House Leader (from 2019 until earlier this year). She helped win passage of so many laws that NBC News dubbed Minnesota the “laboratory” for how a state could effectively wield democratic power (the “little-d” kind) to improve her constituents’ lives and livelihoods. In 2023, columnist E.J. Dionne called that slate of reforms and Rep. Hortman’s professional legacy a “Minnesota Miracle.”

Among the issues tackled and state laws passed during her tenure:

· Abortion – the PRO Act, legislation that codified abortion access in the state, as well as other bills to protect abortion providers, boost funding for reproductive health care, and crack down on fake crisis pregnancy centers.

· Child poverty – an array of reforms including expansion of the child tax credit, free school breakfasts and lunches, and increased funding for state childcare programs.

· Free speech – a prohibition on book banning based on ideological or content objections in public schools and libraries.

· Gun safety – mandatory universal background checks and extreme risk protection orders, as well as laws to make straw purchases of firearms a felony.

· LGBTQ rights – a ban on conversion therapy for minors and protections for gender-affirming care, and a proclamation of Minnesota as a “trans refuge state.”

· Voting rights – a package of laws that includes pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, automatic voter registration in state agencies, and penalties for voter intimidation and lies. Restore the Vote re-enfranchised 50,000 Minnesotans with felony convictions.

· Workplace – paid family and medical leave, including paid sick leave and paid safe leave for survivors of domestic abuse (including to find temporary housing, attend court, etc.).

Beyond the desire to recognize and celebrate Rep. Hortman’s tremendous achievements, why does this particular record matter? Gender, the right to bodily autonomy, and abortion advocacy are chilling throughlines.

Though the shooter’s motivations are still unconfirmed, news reports reveal that notebooks found in his car were “full of plans, lists of names, surveillance efforts, and home addresses.” Among those listed are Democratic elected officials (according to the New York Times, that includes multiple members of Congress from Minnesota, including Reps. Kelly Morrison, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Sen. Tina Smith, as well as state and federal leaders from other states), and local Planned Parenthood contacts—including abortion providers and advocates. Accounts by the shooter’s friends as well as his social media footprint indicate his vehement opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights, an opposition that he made especially clear via sermons he delivered at an evangelical church in Congo.

It is a calamity on multiple levels, starting with the unfathomable, needless, tragic loss of lives. Adding insult is the fact that the Trump administration and Congress are hellbent on dismissing (when not encouraging) the threat posed by anti-abortion extremists. The White House sent a crystal clear signal by pardoning twenty-three people convicted of violating the FACE Act, a 1994 federal law that prohibits interfering with access to reproductive health clinics. The U.S. Department of Justice further rolled back FACE Act protections when it announced its intent to limit enforcement of the law. Meanwhile, House Republicans are currently advancing a bill that seeks to repeal the FACE Act entirely; it has already passed unanimously on party lines through the House Judiciary Committee.

Then, we must reckon with the overall prevalence of political violence that is fast becoming the American new normal. A 2024 report issued by the Brennan Center revealed a startling number (43 percent) of state legislators experience threats and harassment, a number that more than doubled (89 percent) when less severe forms of abuse (insults or harassment, such as stalking) are included. In 2025, 170 incidents directed at local officials were reported in more than three dozen states, according to the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University. As per the New York Times, violent threats against lawmakers at all levels hit a record high last year, for the second year in a row. So too are judges and other court officials in the literal line of fire.

Experts have been weighing in around the clock since the weekend in resounding agreement that we are entering new territory with no clear way back.

Vitriol runs high and spreads fast. No doubt, the decibel level of it is high across the partisan spectrum, though there seems to be an extra-large welcome mat for those voices at the White House. All of it is worrisome, but the combination of anti-abortion extremism, anti-democratic fury, and actual violence is growing exponentially more potent. The federal government is communicating with utter precision that abortion is the exception, the excuse, the issue for which violence is an acceptable response. We ignore that message at our collective and societal peril.

Though Minnesotans were in a state of shock and trauma, and though residents were warned to stay indoors, they still came out in droves to protest over the weekend, refusing to cower in fear. This display is perhaps the most meaningful way to connect the dots—and to honor Rep. Hortman’s pro-choice, pro-family, pro-democracy legacy.