Whitmer signs bills deregulating some aspects of abortion in Michigan

Livonia — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed into law a series of bills that aim to codify abortion rights into Michigan law and repeal measures that abortion advocates say inhibit access to the medical procedure of terminating a pregnancy.

The Reproductive Health Act would put the language of the Reproductive Freedom For All constitutional amendment, Proposal 3 of 2022, in state law and make a variety of additional repeals and changes to existing Michigan abortion law.

Whitmer signed eight of the nine bills in the package Tuesday, but delayed signing the main piece of legislation that codifies the language of the Reproductive Freedom for All constitutional amendment and repeals several current regulations. It's not clear why the governor delayed that bill, but the legislation she signed Tuesday is dependent upon it's enactment because of tie-bars in the bills.

The bills she did sign largely repeal requirements for abortion clinics to be licensed as freestanding surgical centers in Michigan, so-called "TRAP laws" that opponents said put unnecessary and onerous building code requirements on abortion clinics. TRAP is an acronym for targeted restrictions on abortion providers.

"These are politically motivated, medically unnecessary restrictions on hallway width, ceiling height, HVAC system and janitors' closets," Whitmer said. "... These have nothing to do with providing the necessary health care. All these restrictions do is increase costs, especially for independent clinics, and decrease the number of (abortion) providers that are available to Michiganders."

Supporters of the licensing rules have long argued the surgical center standards protected the health and safety of the woman seeking an abortion.

When Whitmer signs the main bill in the package at some point in the future, she'll be enacting a bill that codifies the language of the November 2022 constitution amendment, repeals the state's partial birth abortion act in the penal code and voids a 92-year-old law that criminalizes the abortion of a "quick child" or a child that has started moving in the womb. The bill also nixes laws that require insurance providers to make customers pay for an additional rider for abortion coverage.

Proposal 3 passed with support from 57% of voters in November 2022, enshrining a right to abortion in the state constitution after a U.S. Supreme Court opinion earlier that year overturned a nearly 50-year-old opinion that secured abortion rights at the federal level. Sponsors of the Reproductive Health Act said their bills simply implemented Proposal 3 in state law.

But the bills ultimately passed by the Legislature fell short of the initial sweeping changes the Reproductive Health Act aimed to make, in large part due to opposition in the House. The final legislation that will be signed by Whitmer next week does not include Medicaid funding for abortions, did not repeal mandatory screening for coercion and did not repeal of the state's 24-hour waiting period ahead of an abortion, as was initially intended by sponsors.

The omission of those measures prompted abortion rights supporters including the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and Planned Parenthood of Michigan to call the final package a "watered-down" version of the Reproductive Health Act that "lacks key policy reforms."

Right to Life of Michigan called Tuesday's bill signing a "dark day" for Michigan and argued the laws would present an "immediate danger" to the safety and health of women and children. The failure of lawmakers to repeal the 24-hour waiting period, parental consent laws and bans on Medicaid funding were a "silver lining," the anti-abortion group said. 

"The shocking elimination of the ban on partial-birth abortion demonstrates what many voters have hesitated to accept — pro-abortion Democrats will accept no limit on abortion, not even at the time of birth," said Barbara Listing, president for Right to Life of Michigan.

The bills Whitmer signed Tuesday repealed a partial birth abortion ban in the public health code, but not in the penal code. The remaining bill waiting to be signed will repeal the ban in the penal code. A ban on partial birth abortions remains in federal law.

The overall package would codify the year-old constitutional language on reproductive rights in state law and would repeal current penalties and criminal references related to administering a partial birth abortion, "quick child" abortion and certain abortion insurance requirements. Additionally, it nixes certain building code standards required of a freestanding surgical center, repeals guidelines for fetal remains disposal and repeals bans on providing abortion information through pregnant and parenting student programs at public universities.

The provisions related to the Medicaid funding of abortion and the 24-hour waiting period were removed from the package after Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, said she didn't support the measures and would vote no on the package while they remained part of it.

When the items were removed, the package moved through the House in 56-54 votes along party lines.

"I do not think it is too much to ask when someone's terminating a life, a 24-hour pause to be able to say for sure this is the decision you want to make. Twenty-four hours is not too much," Whitsett said previously.

Whitmer was joined at Tuesday's bill signing ceremony at Schoolcraft College by several female lawmakers, including House Speaker Pro Tem Laurie Pohutsky, a Livonia Democrat.

In calling the 24-hour waiting period to have an abortion "arbitrary and punitive," Pohutsky took a veiled shot at Whitsett in her remarks.

"One person's personal politics can still, unfortunately, greatly impact what we were able to do," Pohutsky said.

The repeal of the 24-hour waiting period was one that Whitmer supported publicly in August and was a measure abortion groups said was integral to abortion access.

"Without eliminating the Medicaid abortion ban and the 24-hour mandated delay, access to abortion care will remain out of reach for too many across our state," a statement from abortion advocacy groups earlier this month said. "Barriers like these make abortion care more difficult to access and often have a disproportionate impact on Black and brown people, people working to make ends meet, rural residents, and other marginalized communities."

Medicaid is the federal-state health plan for mostly low-income residents.

The Democratic governor said she would hold a separate bill-signing ceremony for the main bill in the package, House Bill 4949. The bill, among other things, repeals a requirement that women purchase an additional rider on their health insurance to cover elective abortions. Republicans passed the legislation a decade ago when Whitmer was the minority leader in the state Senate.

"Stay tuned for that repeal," Whitmer said. "It's on deck."

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