WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) announced that Tammi Kromenaker, the Clinic Director of the Red River Women’s Clinic in Moorhead, MN, will be her guest at the President’s State of the Union Address on Thursday, March 7th in Washington, D.C.
The Red River Women’s Clinic spent nearly 25 years in Fargo, where it was North Dakota’s sole abortion provider for most of that time. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision in 2022, the Republican Governor of North Dakota enacted one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. To continue serving patients in desperate need of care, Kromenaker moved the clinic to the neighboring city of Moorhead in Minnesota, where abortion rights are protected under state law.
“When North Dakota banned abortion statewide after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Tammi Kromenaker sprang into action, moving Red River Women’s Clinic across the bridge from Fargo to Moorhead,” said Senator Smith. “Now, Minnesota is an island for abortion care in the Upper Midwest, and thousands of people in the region and across the country count on Red River Women’s Clinic for their health care. Every day, women walk through the doors of RRWC ready to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. And every day that freedom is under assault by the forces dedicated to a national abortion ban. The story of Tammi and her clinic represents the absolute chaos for Americans after the Supreme Court ruling, and her commitment to continuing to provide health care for women in a challenging landscape is inspiring. I’m so glad to have her by my side at President Biden’s State of the Union.”
“Patients seeking abortion care in this post-Dobbs landscape are desperate, frightened and often worried about state laws that ban abortion,” said Tammi Kromenaker, Clinic Director of RRWC.“Patients should not have to fear being labeled a criminal when seeking medical care. At Red River Women’s Clinic, we are grateful for Minnesota’s elected leaders who led the way to not only protect abortion access but also to set up defenses for those traveling from other states. I am honored to join Senator Smith to represent independent abortion providers at the State of the Union. It is vital that we continue to lift up the incredible obstacles clinics and patients are facing in this post-Dobbs world.”
Since coming to the Senate, Senator Smith has championed the right of Americans to make their own reproductive health decisions. She is the only sitting United States Senator to have worked for Planned Parenthood, where she served as an Executive Vice President for Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. She has introduced a host of legislation aimed at protecting access to medication abortions, expanding access to the nation’s largest family planning program (Title X), and prohibiting states from hindering patients traveling across state lines to obtain abortion care. She visited the Red River Women’s Clinic a year after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade to reaffirm her commitment to keeping Minnesota a safe harbor for reproductive rights.
Tammi Kromenaker has worked with Red River Women’s Clinic for more than 25 years and currently serves as Clinic Director. RRWC provides the full spectrum of reproductive care: birth control, STI testing, walk-in pregnancy testing, and abortion care. Under Ms. Kromenaker’s leadership, RRWC has dedicated itself to keeping abortion access available for patients from states that are restricting or banning abortion. The clinic currently provides care to the Fargo-Moorhead area, all of North Dakota, northwestern Minnesota and South Dakota.
The President’s State of the Union Address will be held in the U.S. House Chamber on Thursday, March 7th.
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