Whitmer Calls for Women’s Choice Protection

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is urging the United States Congress to move quickly to protect a woman’s right to an abortion.

Following the leak of a draft opinion that indicates the U.S. Supreme Court is about to strike down the landmark Roe v Wade decision, Whitmer and 16 other governors asked the Senate to approve a bill that passed the U.S. House last September.

The Women’s Health Protection Act would make access to abortion as protected by Roe into law nationwide.

Whitmer earlier asked the Michigan Supreme Court for a ruling as to whether the state’s existing abortion law is legal under the present state constitution.

Michigan’s law was passed in 1931. It bans abortion under almost all circumstances, including rape and incest. The law was made moot when the Roe decision was handed down in 1973, but it remains on the books. If the U.S. Supreme Court does overturn Roe, Michigan’s law would immediately take effect again.