Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and 
other lawmakers in the Michigan 
House 
Democratic 
Caucus 
introduced 
the 
Reproductive 
Health Care Act, a plan to revoke 
existing laws which restrict or bar 
access to abortion, last Tuesday.
Abortion 
is 
currently 
legal 
through the first 24 weeks of 
pregnancy in the state of Michigan, 
though there are a number of 
restrictions regarding access to 
abortion that the RHA aims to 
dissolve. Among the legislation 
these lawmakers hope to repeal is 
a 1931 Michigan law prohibiting 
abortion. Since the 1973 Supreme 
Court decision in Roe v. Wade 
became law, which recognizes the 
right to abortion as a constitutional 
right, federal law has trumped this 
state law. However, if Roe v. Wade 
were to be overturned, abortion 
would again be banned statewide. 
Other laws the RHA seeks to 

repeal include those which require 
a 24-hour waiting period after 
requesting an abortion, parental 
consent 
for 
minors 
seeking 
abortions and a ban on private 
insurance 
coverage 
for 
these 
procedures. The act also aims to 
get rid of barriers for state and 
federal funding for reproductive 
health care providers and access to 
medical abortion via telemedicine, 
which allows health care providers 
to consult patients remotely. 
The movement against abortion 
is also active in Michigan, with two 
anti-abortion petitions currently 
circulating. The first, organized by 
anti-abortion group Right to Life of 
Michigan, seeks to ban the dilation 
and evacuation procedure unless 
the pregnant person’s life is at risk. 
The procedure involves dilating 
the cervix and removing the fetus 
with forceps and can result in 
dismemberment of the fetus. The 
second petition, advocated by the 
Michigan 
Heartbeat 
Coalition, 

advocates 
banning 
abortions 
after cardiac activity is detected, 
which can be as early as five-weeks 
gestation. Both petitions seek to 
enact legislation previously vetoed 
by Whitmer.
On Tuesday, Michigan Attorney 
General Dana Nessel issued a 
statement in support of the RHA 
plan.
“Women’s reproductive rights 
and access to quality health care are 
under attack across the country,” 
the statement reads. “Now, more 
than ever, we must take concrete 
steps to ensure the rights of all 
women are protected under the 
law.” 
Some abortion rights activists 
have expressed concern that the 
bills outlined in the RHA, many of 
which would require a two thirds 
majority, are unlikely to pass in a 
Republican controlled legislature. 
Public Policy senior Brianna 
Wells, co-president of the abortion 
rights 
student 
organization 
Students for Choice at the 
University 
of 
Michigan, 
supports the RHA but shared 
concerns 
regarding 
its 
longevity.
“I 
think 
it’s 
really 
important to have something 
that will give people the right 
to choose in the case that 
Roe v. Wade is overturned, 
which is probably likely given 
the people on the Supreme 
Court right now,” Wells said. 
“I don’t know how good of a 
chance the bill has of being 
passed, and even if it were 
to be passed, it just worries 
me that the next time the 
legislature is unfriendly to 
something like this it could 
just be gutted. So, while I 
totally support the bill(s), I 
think that eventually I would 
like to see something more 
permanent put into place, like 
a constitutional amendment 
to Michigan’s constitution or 
something like that.”
In a press conference on 
Tuesday, Whitmer addressed 
this 
concern, 
alluding 
to 
allegations 
of 
illegal 

gerrymandering, but maintained 
that the plan was nonetheless 
important. 
“We are all acutely aware of how 
gerrymandered this legislature is 
and that it’s an uphill battle, but 
it doesn’t mean you don’t fight it,” 
Whitmer said.
Education 
junior 
Justin 
Cadarette, a member of the anti-
abortion 
student 
organization 
Students for Life, opposes any 
change 
to 
the 
current 
laws 
restricting access to abortion in 
Michigan. 
“All of those laws that are 
currently in place are really good 
for making sure if a woman does 
really feels like she needs to have 
an abortion … it makes sure she 
has all the time possible and all the 
information necessary to really 
make a super informed decision 
and very consciously deal with the 
consequences if she does carry out 
the abortion,” Cadarette said. 
He highlighted parental consent 
as one important requirement that 
should not change.
“Especially 
with 
minors, 
definitely their parents need to 
know what’s going on with their 
lives,” Cadarette said. “You need 
to get parental consent to go to the 
dentist, go to the doctor, even to get 
ibuprofen from your high school. 
So definitely parents should know 
that their child wants to get a really 
serious medical procedure done 
that could have potentially bad 
consequences.”
Wells, on the other hand, felt 
repealing laws such as the 24-hour 
waiting period sends an important 
message about bodily autonomy.
“I think that, other than (the 
waiting period) just being an 
unnecessary barrier to people 
trying to seek an abortion, I think 
(repealing) it sends the message 
that we trust individuals enough 
to make decisions about their own 
bodies,” Wells said. “We don’t have 
to put this waiting period on it 
because I think that assumes that if 
you get people to think about it long 
enough, they won’t want to have an 
abortion anymore, and I think that’s 
really condescending.”

2A— Tuesday, November 5, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Michigan House Democratic Caucus 
 
brings Reproductive Health Care Act

Lawmakers introduce bill to repeal laws restricting access to abortion

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