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Backers of a petition drive to enact a ban on one type of abortion in Michigan say they’re more than halfway to their signature goal.
The Michigan Values Life coalition includes Right to Life of Michigan, the Michigan Catholic Conference and several other anti-abortion groups.
They want to outlaw the procedure known as dilation and evacuation, also known as D and E. D and E makes up about seven percent of abortions performed in Michigan, and is usually used after the first trimester.
The petition language contains an exception for situations in which the mother’s life is at risk.
In a press release yesterday, Right to Life announced that 200,000 signatures have been obtained. 340,047 valid signatures are needed to put the proposal on the statewide ballot.
Similar legislation passed the House and Senate over the summer, but no agreed-upon version was approved by both chambers.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has promised to veto any anti-abortion legislation sent to her. If the requisite number of petition signatures is collected, both chambers of the state legislature could also approve it, and make it law immediately, without the governor’s signature.
The proposed D and E ban is different from a second petition being circulated by another group, which would outlaw abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected.
