The Michigan state House adopted legislation Wednesday evening aiming to repeal certain existing abortion restrictions. However, with the Democratic majority in a precarious position, leaders were forced to make compromises, falling short of their initial aspirations.
Representative Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) championed the bills as pivotal in continuing the work to align state laws with the reproductive-rights amendment, which was embraced by Michigan voters last year. “This bill package seeks to repeal onerous, politically motivated and medically unnecessary laws that were put into place over the last 10 to 15 years with the express purpose of limiting access to abortion,” she said in a floor speech. She said the goal of the package is “to correct a long-standing wrong and remove politicians from rooms where only patients and medical professionals belong.”
However, the bills faced criticism from members of the opposition, including Representative Gina Johnsen (R-Lake Odessa). Johnsen questioned the necessity of these measures in light of the reproductive rights amendment, known to voters as Proposal 3. “Proposal 3 has passed with 57% of the vote. The 1931 law banning abortion procedures has been removed by the Legislature,” she said. “But why do we need yet another fast track to have more abortions?”
The bills were narrowly passed with a 56-to-54 vote, strictly along party lines. However, the Democratic leaders were unsuccessful in rallying enough support to repeal the 24-hour waiting periods or to lift the prohibition on utilizing Medicaid funds for abortion services. While these contentious bills remain pending on the House calendar, the others are set to move to the Senate.
Advocacy groups supporting abortion rights welcomed the incremental progress but voiced their disappointment at the inability to achieve broader policy changes.
The legislative package is now slated for consideration in the Michigan Senate, where, like the House, Democrats maintain a tenuous majority.
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