Last week Senate Democrats brought extreme abortion legislation to the Senate Floor. For over 16 hours, Senate Republicans put up a fight offering numerous commonsense amendments, only for every attempt at debate to be struck down by party line votes. What we were left with was a one-page bill that opens the floodgates on abortion and a number of other procedures.

Despite Republicans’ attempts to offer commonsense amendments that most Minnesotans agree with—a ban on third trimester abortions, a ban on the violent partial birth abortions, parental consent—Democrats voted down every single amendment. At one point, Senate Democrats stopped responding to our amendments and refused to even discuss them. This is not how Democracy works, and it is not what our constituents want to see. With topics as sensitive as this, it is important that we engage is respectful discussion to reach common ground. Unfortunately, Democrats were more interested in ramming through their extreme legislation.

What we were left with was the most extreme abortion bill in the country. Supporters of the bill claimed it only codified Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Gomez, but that just isn’t accurate—it went far beyond both of those bills. Abortion is now legal up until birth for any reason with no viability limits. What was even worse is that this bill was written in a way that allows minors to have access to sterilization, gender surgeries, and abortion. This is wrong. Most folks agree this bill goes way too far.

I am disappointed Democrats pushed this bill through so quickly and showed such an utter unwillingness to find common ground. Unfortunately, that seems to be the theme of this session. We also brought up a bill that would have eliminated the tax on social security, just to be struck down once again on a party line vote—for the second time this year. When Republicans were in the majority, we were always respectful of the minority party. Even if we didn’t agree with some of their policies, we were willing to come to the table and negotiate because that is how you reach solutions that serve all Minnesotans. Democrats have shown zero interest in doing that this year. I’m disappointed, but not surprised.

Looking ahead, we will likely have more extreme legislation to contend with. If the past month is any indicator, Republicans, and by extension their constituents, will be silenced by Democrats’ push to enact their extreme agenda. The bills that Democrats are prioritizing do not reflect the values of greater Minnesota, and the extreme abortion bill is a clear example of that.