Governor Gretchen Whitmer repealed the 1931 abortion ban on April 5.
Whitmer’s signature underscored the will of the voters last election. The electorate voted to enshrine the right to access abortions as an amendment to the state constitution.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Whitmer “uses her gubernatorial powers to ask the Michigan Supreme Court to declare the 1931 law criminalizing abortion violated the Michigan Constitution. The court formally dismissed Whitmer’s lawsuit after voters approved the reproductive rights amendment championed by Whitmer.”
The state legislature also repealed laws that restricted abortion access. House Bill 4006 revoked a law that made giving a pregnant person an abortion a felony and selling or advertising medication for an abortion a misdemeanor. House Bill 4032 removed felonies related to the procedure, namely four- to 15-year imprisonment for giving abortions or abortions resulting in death, respectively. Senate Bill 2 repeals the 1931 law that made distributing information on how to perform abortions a misdemeanor.
