BIRMINGHAM, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, surrounded by a packed room of pink-wearing lawmakers, advocates, doctors and stakeholders, on Wednesday signed legislation to repeal Michigan's 1931 abortion ban.
"Who would like to see me slay a zombie?" Whitmer exclaimed before signing the legislation, calling the ban a "threat coming back to haunt us all."
The Michigan House voted 58-50 last month to repeal the state's abortion ban with the support of two Republicans. The Michigan Senate followed suit a few days later, sending the bill to Whitmer for her signature.
Abortion is currently legal in Michigan, with 57% of voters in November's election approving a constitutional amendment that enshrined the right to abortion and reproductive rights in Michigan's constitution.
Wednesday's signing of the bill was a "dark day," Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said in a statement.
"Cloaking the elimination of long-standing, common-sense health and safety protections in the mantra of 'women's rights' demonstrates the extreme nature of the Governor's abortion activism," Listing said. "Governor Whitmer may find the national spotlight dimming as the reality of today's action unfolds. The Governor's radical abortion at all costs approach to women's health and safety has historically been relegated to an unelectable wing of her party."
Abortion remained legal in Michigan after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer despite the 1931 ban on the books. Whitmer and Planned Parenthood of Michigan filed lawsuits to halt the 1931 law from going into effect.
Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher issued a preliminary injunction in the Planned Parenthood case in May, stalling any enforcement of the ban after the Supreme Court's June decision. Gleicher issued a permanent injunction in that case in September.
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Jacob Cunningham issued a preliminary injunction in Whitmer's case in August that applied to county prosecutors who argued they weren't enjoined by Gleicher's decision.
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II thanked all the attorneys and advocates that argued in court for abortion and echoed Whitmer's sentiments toward the 1931 law saying, "Today we're taking out the trash"
Michigan's abortion ban from 1931 law banned all instances of abortion except to save a mother's life, offering no exceptions in cases of rape or incest. Though widely regarded in the state as the "1931" ban, that was the year the law was last updated. The ban dates back to more than 170 years ago, before women or people of color had the right to vote.
It is not lost on bill sponsor Sen. Erika Geiss, D-Taylor, that an all-male legislature made a decision that banned abortions for decades until Roe v. Wade.
"As a Black woman ... aware of the history of Black women not having bodily autonomy and being subjected to gynecological abuse ... longer than the years of having any semblance of it in this country, I confidently say today has been a long time coming," Geiss said.
Abortion and reproductive health care were main talking points among candidates in Michigan's November elections, with polling reflecting the issue being a driver for people at the polls.
With the Reproductive Freedom For All proposal's passage, bill sponsor Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, urged stakeholders to not let up and to continue to watch out for threats to reproductive health care.
"We cannot allow archaic laws to remain on the books under the assumption that they'll never be used again. We don't know what the future will hold and we don't know what plans abortion opponents have to once again remove protections for Michiganders," Pohutsky said. "What we do know is that today, right here, we have the ability to right a wrong from 177 years ago."
