GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Today, Right to Life of Michigan responded to new polling on voters’ beliefs about abortion and what issues they want candidates to discuss. The data comes less than two weeks before statewide early in-person voting begins on October 26, 2024, with many voters already casting their ballots via absentee voting. Marketing Resource Group’s October 7 – 10, 2024 poll (605 Sample, MOE 4.0%) demonstrates an overwhelming awareness that abortion is already secured in Michigan’s State Constitution, and voters want candidates to address other pressing issues.
The poll showed 81% of voters believe “a woman’s right to choose is protected.” Moreover, on issues which voters want to hear about from candidates, abortion comes in a distant fourth at only 9.8%, with the economy and jobs topping the list at 27.9%, immigration and border control second at 18.3%, and high gas prices/inflation/higher prices ranking third at 13.1%. (See polling questions and results at the end of this document and here.)
“Michigan voters are savvy. They know a woman in Michigan can get an abortion for any reason at any point in her pregnancy as a result of Proposal 3 passing. Abortion is not on the ballot. To suggest otherwise is the worst kind of deception, peddling misinformation to prey on women in a crass attempt to win votes,” stated Amber Roseboom, President, Right to Life of Michigan. “Unsurprisingly, Democrats’ desperate attempts to motivate their base with the lie that abortion is on the ballot is falling flat. Even if every Republican candidate in the state won, there is absolutely nothing they could do to change the fact that a right to abortion is protected in our state constitution.”
The Facts on Abortion in Michigan:
A woman in Michigan can have an abortion for any reason at any point in her pregnancy.
(Proposal 3, 2022)
Even if every Republican running for office won his/her election, there is nothing that could be done to change or limit that since a “right” to abortion is now in the state constitution.
Michigan has some of the least restrictive abortion laws in the country and is one of only nine states with no gestational limits. The old “rape and incest” argument is wholly irrelevant. A woman needs absolutely no justification to get an abortion at any time in her pregnancy.
There is no threat of a national gestational limit, a.k.a. “national ban,” on abortion. Right to Life of Michigan has not advocated and is not advocating for a national ban on abortion as a matter of strategy. Beyond that fact, there are not the votes in Congress for a “ban” and no current presidential candidate is advocating for or would sign a “ban.”
Despite the outlandish claims of abortion-obsessed Democrats, Republican candidates running for office in Michigan do NOT support jailing women for abortion and never have. Beyond that fact, Michigan law has NEVER criminalized a woman for procuring an abortion, and this was reconfirmed by the Michigan Supreme Court in the 1963 case In re Vickers.
Miscarriage treatment and treatment for ectopic pregnancies are not prohibited by any law in the country nor have they ever been. Even states with the most restrictive abortion policies have a “life of the mother” exception, under which ectopic pregnancy falls.
After the past two years of radical, abortion-obsessed leadership in Michigan, abortion has become less, not more, safe. With abortion clinic health and safety regulations gone (Reproductive Health Act) and Informed Consent no longer enforceable, women should be on notice. In the last year alone (2022-2023), serious complications from abortions shot up 38%. (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.)
What’s at Stake Now:
At stake now is not access to abortion, but commonsense protections for Michiganders, like parental consent for abortion and laws that prevent tax dollars from paying for other people’s elective abortions.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer said she wants parental consent for minor girls gone. (Stateside, Michigan Public Radio, March 2024) Child-protective school penalties for employees assisting students in obtaining abortions have been eliminated. (Public Act 103, October 2023) Millions of taxpayer dollars are being funneled to expand school-based healthcare clinics targeting children. (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Whitmer Administration grants, 2023/2024)
Democrats in Lansing tried, but were so far unable, to force taxpayers to pay for other people’s abortions through Medicaid dollars. Now they’ve appealed to the courts to do it.
Marketing Resource Group, Fall 2024 (October 7-10, 2024), 605 Sample – MOE 4.0%
In 2022, Michigan voters voted to pass an amendment to the State Constitution that establishes a right to “reproductive freedom,” including the right to make all decisions about pregnancy and abortion. Knowing that Michigan’s constitution now protects a woman’s right to have an abortion through all 9 months of pregnancy for any reason, and that abortion is also now protected in more than a dozen places in state law, do you believe a woman’s right to choose is protected in Michigan [If believe/don’t believe would that be strongly believe/don’t believe or somewhat believe/not believe]?
Strongly believe a woman’s right to choose is protected………….49.4%
Somewhat believe a woman’s right to choose is protected……….31.6%
Somewhat believe a woman’s right to choose is not protected……4.8%
Strongly believe a woman’s right to choose is not protected….….6.0%
Refused/Don’t know………………………………………………8.3%
TOTAL BELIEVE PROTECTED: 81%
TOTAL BELIEVE NOT PROTECTED: 11%
When considering your support for a candidate, what issues would you like to see them discuss on the campaign?
[Rotate options]
The economy and jobs…………………….………27.9% 1st
High gas Prices/inflation/higher prices..………..13.1% 3rd
Education…………………………………….…….6.6%
Abortion…………………………………………….9.8%
Energy & the Environment…………………………3.0%
Roads & Infrastructure……………………………..2.5%
Health Care Issues…………………………………..6.0%
Immigration/Border Control……………………..18.3% 2nd
Crime/Drugs…………………………………….…..2.6%
Taxes………………………………………………..1.7%
Don’t Know…………………………………………1.7%
Refused………………………………………………0.3%
Other………………………………………….………6.6%
Right to Life of Michigan (RLM) es la mayor y más antigua organización sin ánimo de lucro del estado dedicada a defender la opción por la vida para los miembros más jóvenes y más mayores de nuestra familia humana. Desde nuestra fundación en 1972, nos hemos mantenido firmes en nuestra misión de educar al público en cuestiones relacionadas con la vida, apoyar la protección legal de la salud de la mujer, los ancianos, los discapacitados y los niños no nacidos, y apoyar a los candidatos provida. RLM tiene 80 afiliados en todo el estado y más de 282.550 miembros. La organización logró 172 victorias electorales sólo en 2022. Con más de 50 protecciones de afirmación de la vida aprobadas por ley, RLM estima que más de 269,633 vidas se han salvado gracias a una sola protección legal. Para más información, visite rtl.org.
Para más información:
Gracie Ivy O'Brien, Directora de Relaciones con los Medios y Digital, (616) 532-2300, [email protected].