Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (shown) and her fellow Democrats in the state legislature plan to introduce legislation that would essentially remove all restrictions on abortion in the Wolverine State.
The seven bills Democrats will introduce under the umbrella title of the Reproductive Health Act — a name that falsely suggests abortion is synonymous with health — are, however, unlikely to pass because the legislature is controlled by Republicans, all of whom are pro-life, according to the Detroit Free Press. Moreover, noted the paper, “Many of the measures would require a two-thirds majority because they would repeal voter-approved initiatives or constitutional amendments that restrict access to abortion.”
“We are acutely aware of how gerrymandered this legislature is and that this is an uphill battle, but that doesn’t mean you don’t fight it,” Whitmer said at a press conference Tuesday. “It’s important that we continue to push legislation like this and use every tool at our disposal to protect a woman’s right to choose.”
Also appearing with Whitmer were female Democratic legislators and the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Michigan, which stands to reap a large, ongoing windfall if the legislation passes.
According to the Free Press, the bills in question would:
Repeal a 1931 law that prohibits doctors from performing an abortion [unenforced since Roe v. Wade (1973) but potentially enforceable if the Supreme Court overturns that decision].
Remove regulations that require abortion clinics to operate like free-standing surgical centers.
Remove the requirement that minors have parental consent before getting an abortion.
Remove barriers from health care providers, such as Planned Parenthood, from receiving state and federal funding.
Lifts [sic] 24-hour waiting period from the time a person requests and is able to get an abortion.
Lift the ban on private insurance coverage for abortions.
Remove barriers to accessing medically induced abortion through telemedicine.
Right to Life of Michigan says the bills might also repeal the state’s ban on taxpayer funding of abortions, which the group claims “has saved an estimated 236,935 lives since 1989,” and “allow nurses and physician assistants to perform surgical abortions,” reported LifeNews.com.
“It’s no surprise that Governor Gretchen Whitmer wants to follow New York’s lead and allow unlimited abortion-on-demand in Michigan,” Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing told the Free Press. “We know most Michiganders do not support secret teen abortions, unregulated medical facilities, or abortions up to the point of birth.”
Michigan pro-life groups are currently circulating two petitions in hopes of putting even more abortion restrictions on the books. One would ban dilation and evacuation, or “dismemberment,” abortions, in which living babies are torn limb from limb in the womb. The other would prohibit abortion after a baby’s heartbeat is detected.
Both petitions must gather a significant number of signatures within a short period of time. If they do, the associated bills are automatically introduced in the legislature, which cannot change them. If a majority of legislators in both chambers votes in favor of the bills, they become law and cannot be vetoed by the governor. (The legislature passed a dismemberment-abortion ban earlier in the year but has not yet delivered it to Whitmer, who has vowed to veto it.)
The threat to the abortion-on-demand regime posed by these petitions was part of the impetus for introducing the Reproductive Health Act, said state Representative Kristy Pagan, the lead sponsor of the legislation. “We must pass the Michigan Reproductive Health Act and regulate abortion care like all other forms of medical care and leave important life-saving decisions between a patient and her doctor,” she declared.
Of course, abortion is anything but “life-saving.” Rarely, if ever, is it necessary to save a pregnant woman’s life; besides, the dismemberment-abortion ban contains an exception for such cases. On the other hand, it is almost invariably fatal to the unborn child — 60 million times since 1973. And when it isn’t, abortion fanatics, demonstrating their contempt for life, don’t even want doctors to have to treat the baby.
Whitmer notwithstanding, Michigan’s abortion laws are likely to remain as they are or perhaps become even more restrictive. But the governor and her fellow Democrats have done voters a service by showing how devoted they are to the culture of death.
Photo of Gretchen Whitmer: Screenshot of michigan.gov
