LANSING, MI – A coalition of anti-abortion groups are pushing back against what they call a “sweeping” and “dangerous” statewide effort to give Michiganders the right to abortion and other services if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
The Michigan Reproductive Freedom for All (RFFA) initiative is a ballot drive to amend the state constitution and establish a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom.” But anti-abortion advocates said Tuesday, May 24, the proposed ballot measure is dangerously broad and could have a “far-reaching impact” on existing health care laws.
“This proposal applies to anyone at any age,” said Christen Pollo, spokesperson for Citizens to Support MI Women and Children. “It applies to any time up to the very moment of birth. It applies to anywhere, whether in a licensed medical facility or not. And it applies to any way.”
Deconstructing the full ballot measure language, former Michigan solicitor general John Bursch and Erin Mersino, an attorney at the Thomas More Law Center, argued the RFFA’s wording is too general for the state constitution.
The proposed ballot measure does not set a minimum age for the rights it establishes, which include abortion, contraception, sterilization and infertility care. Bursch and Mersino argued that would give minors the right to things that should be held for parental consent.
“This is a decision that they would be making as a child,” Mersino said.
Bursch also argued “abortion care” as stated in the measure is “incredibly broad,” and that it could protect selection based on the fetus’s sex, race or disability.
If Roe is overturned, which a draft decision leaked to Politico in May indicates it will be, Michigan reverts to an 1846 law (updated in 1931) that bans abortion unless the mother’s life is at risk. The person who administers the abortion would face a felony manslaughter charge.
The anti-RFFA coalition includes anti-abortion and religious groups, while the RFFA is supported by organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood.
Bursch and Mersino said the RFFA’s wording indicating it will “invalidate all state laws that conflict” would modify or cancel at least 47 laws. They include Michigan’s 24-hour waiting period for an abortion and requirements that abortions be performed only by physicians and only in licensed clinics.
“It effectively eliminates every possible safety regulation that you could ever put on an abortion clinic,” said Bursch, who has argued cases before the Michigan and U.S. Supreme Courts. “Even things like taking the woman’s pulse and checking her blood pressure before surgery.”
Bursch also claimed a “fundamental right,” per the amendment language, to “infertility care” means it would overrule Michigan’s law banning paid surrogates. And he argued the clause stating, “The state shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against” someone getting an abortion, means Michigan could not prosecute someone giving a “back-alley abortion.”
“It’s easy for the governor to stand up and say, ‘Well, we’re just protecting the rights of abortion in case Roe v. Wade gets overturned,” Bursch said. “But these are the actual words that are going into our Michigan Constitution. And they’re going to stay there.
“A legislature, a governor will have no ability to change these. The only thing that you can do is have another statewide ballot. And in the meantime, women are going to be harmed, people are going to make choices that they regret, and this will be a wild-west, regulation-free abortion state.”
Polls have continuously shown majorities of Michiganders support the right to abortion. The most recent survey, conducted in May by Lansing-based pollster EPIC-MRA, found 57% called themselves pro-choice, and 63% would disagree with overturning Roe.
The RFFA needs 425,059 valid signatures by July 11 to appear on the November ballot. Paul Long, president and CEO of the Michigan Catholic Conference, said Tuesday the anti-RFFA coalition plans to evaluate those signatures and challenge the measure depending on the number of signees.
The proposed amendment is not the only effort to protect Michigan abortion rights. A state court last week temporarily blocked Michigan’s 1931 law if Roe is overturned, and Attorney General Dana Nessel has said she will not enforce it if it takes effect.
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