(ABC 6 News) – With the new six-week abortion ban in effect in Iowa, Minnesota has become an island of legal access for abortions, potentially causing significant impacts across the state.

RELATED: Iowa now bans most abortions after about 6 weeks, before many women know they’re pregnant

When it comes to abortion, Minnesota remains one of the most open states in the country. Abortions are completely legal in the state for anyone, including people traveling from out-of-state.

According to Minnesota’s Department of Health, almost 17% of all abortions performed in 2022 in the state were on non-residents from neighboring states.

Whole Woman’s Health is a privately owned healthcare company providing various types of abortions and other gynecological services to women through the country.

“We’re already seeing at least 20% of our patients coming from states outside of Minnesota,” said President and CEO of Whole Woman’s Health Amy Hagstrom Miller.

Almost all of Minnesota’s neighbors, with the exception of Michigan, restrict abortions to some extent: both of the Dakota’s outright band it, Wisconsin limits it to 22 weeks, and now Iowa bans abortions beyond six weeks.

“People are going to be navigating travel to another state, or trying to figure out how to order pills by mail,” Miller said. “Those are the options that, unfortunately, Iowa has left people with.”

The new ban may have far reaching consequences for Minnesota.

The state has already seen significant increases in the number of abortions coming from out of state since the overturning of Roe vs. Wade.

“This has put a lot of pressure on the clinics that take care of these women,” said U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, “and I expect that that will even get more intense.”

Yet some clinics say they are prepared for the potential influx of patients.

“So far, we’ve been able to see the patients who come from Minnesota as well as people who are coming from other places without adding any kind of delay to anybody’s visit,” said Miller.

And regarding any legal challenges, Minnesota ensure protection of medical information for anyone seeking Medical care, regardless of the reason.

“There is a law prohibiting, or essentially saying subpoenas from another state with the purpose of procuring information that will be used to prosecute people who came to Minnesota to access medial care, that those court orders from another state will not be honored,” said Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Minnesota Alicia Ganse.

Other Minnesota DFL members have made their opinions known on the new ban, including Governor Walz who released a statement saying:

“Today, because Donald Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, women in our neighboring state are now living under a near-total abortion ban. If Trump is elected, he will go even further with his Project 2025 agenda to pass a national abortion ban and take away access to IVF and contraception. In Minnesota, we believe in personal rights and fundamental freedoms, and that’s why we’re going to elect Vice President Harris in November to continue fighting to protect reproductive rights for women no matter which state they live in.”