Group Launches Petition to Limit Emergency Health Powers in Michigan

Group Launches Petition to Limit Emergency Health Powers in Michigan
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during a drive-in campaign rally with Democratic presidential-elect Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama at Belle Isle in Detroit, Mich., on Oct. 31, 2020. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Steven Kovac
Steven Kovac
Reporter
|Updated:

Michigan residents who are fed up with government-imposed lockdowns and health department mandates have begun a petition drive to put control over departmental orders into the hands of their elected representatives.

The proposal preserves the authority of public health professionals to initially determine the need to control an outbreak of an infectious disease by public health orders, although it would require the determination to be in writing. The change also wouldn’t hinder the health department’s ability to quickly respond to a health emergency.