In the wake of Texas passing the Heartbeat Act, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who is among those Democrats panicking because access to abortions might soon be limited, is calling on the state legislature to repeal a nearly century-old state law that criminalizes abortion.
Detroit News reports that the Democratic governor issued a statement six days after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to enjoin a Texas pro-life bill in an emergency filing.
Whitmer’s statement read:
In Michigan today, abortion is safe and legal, but we have an arcane law on the books from the 1930s banning abortion and criminalizing health care providers who offer comprehensive care and essential reproductive services.
Whitmer went on to say that “Thankfully, that dangerous, outdated law is superseded by Roe v. Wade,” meaning the law has not been enforced since 1973; however, “if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe, that Michigan law and others like it may go back into effect in dozens of states.” Also, according to Whitmer, this “dangerous” law is presumably racist since if it is practiced again, it would “disproportionately impact Black and brown communities.”
Issuing such statements, the Michigan governor seems to have no problem with the “disproportionate” rate of abortions that terminate the lives of pre-born babies of color but sees it as a problem if they are not aborted.
The governor further vowed to “stand in the way of any bills that seek to strip away fundamental rights from women or get in the way of doctors’ ability to do their jobs.” Whitmer urged the state’s legislature to approve a proposal sponsored by Senator Erika Geiss (D-Taylor) that would repeal the 1931 law that makes it a felony to willfully administer any medicine, substance, or drug or employ “any instrument” with the intent to procure a miscarriage, unless it is necessary to preserve a mother’s life.
Whitmer joins many leftists, including Democrats, media personalities, Hollywood celebrities, and even the Satanists, who slammed the Texas Heartbeat Act that bans most abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy. The Michigan governor called the Texas legislation “a gross violation of the constitutional right to choose.”
She said that the Supreme Court’s decision might be seen as an indication that “a majority of justices are willing to throw out the constitutional right to choose that has been in place for 48 years and repeatedly upheld for decades.”
Adding to abortionists’ anxiety, the SCOTUS is set to hear a major pro-life case from Mississippi this fall, which seeks to enforce an abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with a better chance than most such legislation to succeed. In this situation, Whitmer looks to ensure the Michigan abortion industry does not lose business.
Angela Vasquez-Giroux, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Michigan, said of the potential changes in Michigan that might take effect if Roe v. Wade is further gutted that it would be “scary and sad.” She went on to express how terrible it would be for her to see the pro-abortion industry hurting: “For folks who work in reproductive rights or who provide reproductive healthcare, it’s really scary to think about what could happen here.” Vasquez-Giroux also expressed her anguish for those women who “don’t want to be pregnant and have no other option [but to make an abortion],” saying it was “frankly terrifying.” The Planned Parenthood representative did not consider choosing life and keeping a baby an option for her potential clients.
Local pro-life groups rejoiced at the prospect of protection for the unborn. Among them is Right to Life of Michigan. In the statement issued to Fox News, the group said they were not surprised that Whitmer called to repeal the abortion ban since she made it clear it was her intention when she was running for Governor and when she was a state senator.
Her calls, however, would fall flat since “The voters sent pro-life majorities to the Michigan Legislature, so her efforts to repeal the Michigan law will not be successful,” the pro-life advocates believe.
Republicans, who control both the state House and Senate, have already rejected Whitmer’s proposition. The Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) stated:
The primary charge of any government or government official is to protect the life of the innocent. Michigan Senate Republicans will not waiver from this fundamental duty to protect the sanctity of life.
A local outlet MLife reports that while there hasn’t been any obvious interest among Republican leadership to introduce legislation similar to the Texas law — which Whitmer promised to veto — they have recently introduced several bills and resolutions that would discourage or restrict access to abortions.
Among them is HB 5086, which would amend the state’s public health code regarding the definitions of abortions and include abortion-inducing drugs and devices as contraceptives. The bill would also ban physicians from performing an abortion without first establishing whether a heartbeat is detectable in the fetus.
Then, there’s HB 4189, which would allocate funds to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for a marketing campaign discouraging abortion and promoting such alternatives as childbirth and the adoption of infants.
Michigan HHS reported a total of 29,669 induced abortions were performed in Michigan in 2020. 85.1 percent of the Michigan women who had an abortion were not married. Among all induced abortions, 89 percent involved pregnancies of 12 weeks or less. Categorized by race, 36.7 percent of women who received an abortion were white, 53 percent were black, 3.4 percent were Hispanic, and 1.9 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander.
