VP candidate Tim Walz’s record on Catholic issues: what you need to know

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appears at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900 on Aug. 8, 2024, in Wayne, Michigan. / Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 13, 2024 / 11:42 am (CNA).

Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate for the 2024 presidential election last week was met with concern from Catholic leaders, some of whom cited his “extreme” views that they say put him at odds with Catholic teaching. 

Based on his record as governor, here’s a look at where he stands on issues that matter to Catholics.

Gender ideology

During Walz’s tenure as governor, he has supported the promotion of gender ideology in the classroom setting, backed laws to ensure doctors can perform sex-change operations on minors, and supported a ban on counseling services that discourage minors from changing their gender.

In March 2023, Walz signed an executive order that directed that state agencies must “protect” people who seek sex-change operations, including children, and must refuse to cooperate with other states that are trying to penalize anyone for facilitating a sex-change operation on a minor.

The following month, he signed a bill that allows Minnesota courts to take temporary emergency jurisdiction over child custody disputes if one parent takes a child into the state to obtain a sex-change operation or sex-change drugs. The bill prohibits Minnesota courts from cooperating with court orders from other states if the other parent is trying to prevent the child from obtaining the drugs or the operation.

In April 2023, Walz also signed a bill that prohibits mental health professionals from providing “conversion therapy.” The bill’s definition of conversion therapy includes counseling services that help children with gender dysphoria become more comfortable with their biological sex. Rather, the law explicitly protects counseling that seeks to socially transition a child’s gender. 

Walz’s support of gender ideology also extended to the classroom.

He signed legislation that prohibits local school boards from removing books from school libraries that promote gender ideology and contain controversial material that some parents believe are sexually explicit. The law also prohibits public libraries and colleges from restricting such material. The law states that only professional librarians or someone with certain qualifications can determine what books are provided in the libraries.

Another law signed by Walz requires that schools make tampons and other menstrual hygiene products available in both male and female bathrooms. Republicans sought an amendment to limit the requirement to only female bathrooms, which failed.

Abortion and IVF

Minnesota has some of the most pro-abortion laws in the country: Elective abortions are legal through the entirety of pregnancy, until the moment of birth. Abortionists can also perform an abortion on a minor of any age and at any stage of pregnancy without notifying the child’s parents.

In January 2023, Walz signed the Protect Reproductive Actions Act, which ensures those standards remain in place. The bill states that every person has a right to “obtain an abortion” and prohibits local governments from imposing limits on that right.

Walz signed another bill in April 2023 that prohibits the extradition of someone who is accused of performing an illegal abortion in another state. The law also states that Minnesota won’t recognize civil or criminal subpoenas from other states related to investigations into illegal abortions.

In March, Walz joined Harris during her visit to a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Minnesota. Harris’ visit was the first time a sitting vice president visited an abortion clinic.

Walz has also been a strong supporter of in vitro fertilization (IVF), which the Catholic Church opposes because it separates the marriage act from procreation and destroys embryonic human life. In his first rally as the Democratic candidate for vice president, Walz spoke about his and his wife’s struggle with infertility and his support for IVF.

Religious freedom

As governor of Minnesota, Walz backed several policies that drew the ire of religious freedom advocates. However, in some of those cases, the governor ultimately made changes to those policies after religious groups took legal action.

When Walz began to scale back some COVID-19 restrictions in May 2020, he issued an executive order that reopened some elements of the economy but maintained harsh restrictions on religious services. Under the order, retail stores could open at 50% capacity, but churches were limited to only 10 people.

Catholic bishops and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod sent letters to Walz, informing him they would reopen for religious services despite the restrictions. Both groups argued that the unequal treatment violated the First Amendment. Less than a week later, Walz reached an agreement with the churches and issued a new executive order that permitted them to open at 25% capacity. 

In May 2023, Walz again faced legal action from religious groups — this time from Christian schools. The schools challenged a law he signed that would have prevented any school that requires students to submit a statement of faith from participating in a program that allows high school students to earn college credits. A month later, the state agreed it would not enforce the law while the litigation is ongoing but has continued to defend the law in court.

Walz also signed a bill in 2023 that amended the Minnesota Human Rights Act to include a ban on discriminating against a person’s “gender identity.” The Minnesota Catholic Conference and other religious groups were critical of the law because it did not contain exemptions for religious institutions. About a year later, Walz signed another amended version, which added religious exemptions to the law.

As governor, Walz has also consistently opposed school choice policies such as education savings accounts. A law establishing education savings accounts would allow parents to use public funds to support private education costs, such as home schooling or sending their child to a private or Catholic school. In an interview in August of last year, Walz criticized those proposals, saying: “[What] we end up doing is subsidizing folks who are already attending private religious schools … or home schooling.”