It’s Monday, and somehow we’re into the last days of June. Abortion law commanded widespread attention at the end of last week and a Supreme Court ruling overturning the longstanding Roe v. Wade decision will continue to reverberate this week. Over the weekend there were more rallies, stepped-up canvassing and press conferences around the status of abortion rights in Minnesota. Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order reiterating that abortion access remains intact in Minnesota. Included is a pledge that his state agencies won’t assist other states in prosecuting people who come to Minnesota to get an abortion or the doctors who provide them. Those who back abortion rights and those who oppose them are mobilizing to rally voters partial to each view. The Star Tribune offers a rundown on how the sides are approaching the political fallout. "Abortion will be a bigger issue for many voters than it has been in modern memory," Moses Bratrud of the Minnesota Family Council told the newspaper. Sarah Stoesz of Planned Parenthood North Central States framed it in similar fashion: "There is a route to protect access to safe and legal abortions, and that is through elections." In neighboring South Dakota, the effects of last week’s ruling are already taking hold because that state had a so-called trigger law. Gov. Kristi Noem said she would try to bar mail-order abortion pills, too. MPR’s Mark Zdechlik went to South Dakota to check in on the mood. Sioux Falls resident Lisa Carlson called the ruling a setback for women. "It's the wrong decision, I think and it takes the decision making away from the woman where I think it belongs. I don't think it should have ever been a political issue to begin with,” she told Mark. “And I think it's unfortunate." Others welcomed the court action as long overdue. Amy Peterson, also of Sioux Falls, had this to say. "I think it was the right decision and it passes the control back down to the states and then it's up to the states and their residents and the people who represent them to make the laws," Peterson said. Reminder: Voting in the 2022 elections has already begun. Friday was the first day Minnesota voters could cast ballots in the Aug. 9 primary, where intra-party contests are setting up the fall campaign. The Pioneer Press offers a how-to guide. Gov. Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea sit today as the Board of Pardons. They’re considering dozens of requests for people seeking clean slates for past transgressions, ranging from drug crimes to theft to assault. The board has to be unanimous to provide pardons. | 