Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a package of bills on Tuesday aiming to reduce barriers to abortion services and broaden access to reproductive health care coverage across the state.
Ms. Whitmer signed into law the Reproductive Health Act (RHA), which will “reduce barriers to abortion, cut unnecessary red tape for medical providers, and expand reproductive health care coverage across Michigan.”
The governor said the new legislation repeals Michigan’s TRAP laws—which placed specific restrictions on abortion providers, such as hallway width, ceiling heights, HVAC systems, and janitor’s closets.
“For people in Western and Northern Michigan, TRAP laws have made it almost impossible to get care in their county,” the governor added.
Ms. Whitmer stated that the RHA also repeals an “extreme” 1931 state law that would have criminalized nurses and doctors for prescribing medication abortion, including mifepristone.
“Medication abortions are the most common way abortions are performed. While other states restrict access to these pills, we are making sure Michigan healthcare providers and patients have every option available,” she noted.
The RHA will also guarantee that students at Michigan public universities have access to comprehensive information regarding all their reproductive health options, according to the governor.
Ms. Whitmer also announced that she would sign another bill of the RHA “to repeal the ban on private insurance companies covering abortion.”
“We’ve been fighting to protect abortion in Michigan for years. But when Roe was repealed, our fight took on a whole new level of urgency.
‘Dark Day in Michigan’
Right to Life of Michigan president Barbara Listing, however, has decried the bill signing and called Ms. Whitmer’s move to sign the bill “reckless.”“Removing basic health and safety standards for abortion clinics, standards that have the support of 95 percent of Michigan voters, is an afront to the very women our governor claims to represent.
“The shocking elimination of the ban on partial-birth abortion demonstrates what many voters have hesitated to accept—pro-abortion Democrats will accept no limit on abortion, not even at the time of birth.
“Now we must put our sights on defending parental rights by retaining parental consent for abortion,” she added.
Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban made it a four-year felony to assist with an abortion unless it was to save the mother’s life. The ban included rare cases of rape and incest.
The 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade rendered the ban null and void. However, when that landmark decision was overturned in June last year, the ban was effectively reinstated.
But the courts blocked the ban from coming back into effect while a citizen-led initiative sought to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution. That initiative was a success.
More than 2.4 million Michiganders voted “yes” in November 2022 to a question of enshrining abortion as a right in the state’s constitution. Roughly 1.8 million voted no.
