Abortion and Protections for Women and Children

In the fall of 2023, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the Reproductive Health Act (RHA), which went into effect in Michigan law on February 13, 2024. The package of bills repealed several longstanding protections for women and children, including the unborn, in the state. The laws that were repealed include abortion clinic health and safety licensing regulations, clinic abortion reporting, abortion complication reporting, the abortion insurance opt-out law, humane disposal of fetal remains, and the “quick-child” law. The RHA also legalized late-term, partial-birth abortion and mandated taxpayers to pay for abortions with their healthcare insurance premiums.

Laws that would have been repealed but were ultimately removed from the bills include the 24-hour waiting period and informed consent for abortion and the protection against using taxpayer dollars to pay for other people’s abortions through Medicaid funding. After failing to garner the votes to remove Informed Consent through the legislative process, on February 6, 2024, the Northland Family Planning Center v. Nessel lawsuit was filed to enlist the courts in striking down the legal protection, threatening a woman’s right to know about medical facts related to abortion procedures.

One month after the RHA went into effect, a former abortion-pill-only Planned Parenthood in Grand Rapids announced they were now providing surgical abortions.

Politicians in Michigan now threaten parental consent for abortions. Currently, minors seeking an abortion must get a parent’s consent or seek a judicial bypass before obtaining an abortion. On March 26, 2023, when referring to the Reproductive Health Act, Governor Whitmer said the removal of parental consent for abortion “was a part of the original package, and I was advocating for the whole package to get to my desk…” Such action is out of step with the will of Michigan voters, as the overwhelming majority of Michiganders (70%) support parental consent for abortions. Read More About Michigan’s Support for Abortion Regulations Here.