"Thank you Gov. Tim Pawlenty," read a Minnesota Family Council blog post
written as the legislative session closed. "You are truly a pro-family
governor." And they have reason to thank him. He worked very closely
with them this session.

The Minnesota Family Council, a group affiliated with the anti-LGBT rights group Focus on the Family, and
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), an anti-reproductive
choice group, received a lot of support from Pawlenty on a host of
topics. His vetoes stymied advances in reproductive health and
research, and LGBT rights.

Surrogate mothers

The Family Council fought against a bill pushed by Republican Rep.
Kathy Tinglestad to formalize the processes involved in surrogate
motherhood. While the anti-choice group MCCL stayed neutral on the
bill, the Family Council railed against it as "baby-selling" and
promoting "designer babies." Another concern? "Nowhere in the
legislation are the rights and interests of the born or unborn child
mentioned in regard to anything," the group wrote in its policy
briefings.

In vetoing the bill, Pawlenty echoed the Family Council’s talking
points: "The bill also fails in any manner to recognize or protect the
life and rights of the unborn child."

Stem cell research

A bill to loosen restrictions on stem cell research landed on the
governor’s desk this session as well. The bill was fiercely opposed by
Catholic groups and the MCCL, and Pawlenty is expected to veto that
bill any day now. In February, he sent a letter to all of Minnesota’s
legislators stating his opposition, echoing sentiments held by the
MCCL: the destruction of embryos is morally suspect.

Sex education

Comprehensive sexual health and family education is perhaps the closest
point of collaboration between Pawlenty and the religious right. As a
condition of his signing any sex-ed legislation, Pawlenty forced lawmakers to meet with
representatives of the Minnesota Family Council, a group that advocates
for an abstinence-only-until-marriage curriculum.

"We were told by the governor’s staff that the Minnesota Family Council
would have had to sign off on whatever negotiated agreement we have,"
Sen. Sandy Pappas said at the end of the session. "I was unaware that
the Family Council had an election certificate."

Because legislators couldn’t reach a deal with the Family Council,
Pawlenty said he would veto the measure. DFL leaders dropped the bill
shortly after. While unpopular with the Family Council, the components
of the comprehensive sex education bill enjoy the support of 89 percent
of Minnesota parents, according to a recent University of Minnesota
poll.

Domestic partner benefits

The Family Council also strongly opposed a bill to give local units of
government the ability to determine who could receive benefits — even,
potentially, same-sex domestic partners. Calling the measure "an
incremental assault on marriage," the Family Council urged Pawlenty to
veto the measure and he quickly obliged. His veto message read, "The
provisions in this bill would permit unlimited expansion of employment
benefits to domestic partners and others by local units of government.
I vetoed nearly identical language last year, and my position has not
changed." In 2007, his veto statement said, "I am opposed to any
legislation concerning domestic partner benefits."

Sick leave

Another bill that raised the ire of the Family Council aimed to allow
government employees to use sick time to care for a seriously ill
family member. The bill would expand current laws that allow for the
use of sick time to care for spouses and dependent children. The Family
Council painted the measure as part of a strategy to create same-sex

marriage. "The end game in all of this is a legal imposition of
homosexual marriage upon the state of Minnesota," said Tom Prichard,
the group’s president.

However, the bill itself had become so watered down that it didn’t even
include domestic partners as a category for inclusion for fear of a
veto. The governor vetoed the measure anyway, saying it would cost too
much for employees to use their own earned sick time to care for loved
ones.