LANSING, Mich. — In late June, the United States Supreme Court released an opinion that overturned the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling and stated that abortion rights are no longer protected by the Constitution.
The ACLU and other pro-choice advocates had been anticipating this ruling for some time, they said in previous interview with FOX 17. So in March, they, along with Michigan United, the YWCA, Michigan Voices, healthcare professionals, and other community groups, began the Reproductive Freedom For All campaign to collect as many signatures as possible to keep abortion access in Michigan legal for years to come.
They needed 425,000 signatures in order to qualify to be on the ballot for the November election. By Monday, July 11, they’d collected 753,759 signatures.
“It is awe-inspiring and shocking,” said Bonsitu Kitaba, deputy legal director with the ACLU. “I am just in awe of all of the thousands of volunteers who have come out, knocked on doors, gone to farmers markets, talked to their friends and families about access to abortion and got their signatures to get this right in Michigan safe and legal.”
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”
— Lauren Edwards (@LaurenEdwardsTV) July 11, 2022
Elder Leslie Matthews of @MichiganUnited speaks at Reproductive Rights For All meeting in Lansing.
Over 753,000 signatures, which @ACLUofMichigan says is record-breaking, have been collected to get the initiative on ballot. // @FOX17 pic.twitter.com/JE3VrcTQ1i
Organizers said Michigan is one of two states that has a ballot measure going before voters.
Monday morning, they turned in the signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office and celebrated by hosting a news conference at the Lansing Center.
“Shirley Chisholm once said 'if they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.' Yes, and today we brought a lot of folding chairs,” said Shanay Watson Whitaker at the podium. “Seventeen days ago the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, completing a decades-long coordinated effort to restrict abortion rights. But today I’m here to tell you that the people of Michigan are sending a very clear message: not in our state.”
Whitaker is the spokesperson for the RFFA.
She was also one of a handful of speakers who talked about the significance of their efforts.
“As we turn in the signatures today, we are boldly affirming that each of us should be able to live, work, and make decisions about our health and our future with dignity and respect,” said Daniel Hamilton with the YWCA of Kalamazoo.
Dozens of people attended the news conference, including some of the 62,000 volunteers who campaigned to get the signatures.
Those volunteers stood behind the speakers on stage as they delivered personal messages.
“I have been an abortion provider for 49 and a half years,” said the founder of the Northland Family Planning Center Renee Chelian as the crowd cheered. “For all of those years, me and my staff have had the privilege and honor of hearing patients' stories, holding their hands, which has taught us that an abortion decision is complicated.”
In Michigan, abortion is still legal, thanks to a pair of lawsuits filed in April by Planned Parenthood and Gov. Whitmer. Both were filed with the intent to block a 1931 law that criminalized abortion from being reinforced if Roe was overturned. Since then, a judge has upheld the lawsuits.
And the RFFA said that if the measure is certified and passed in November, then it'll nullify the 1931 law altogether.
“We collected over 911,000 raw signatures from Michiganders,” Kitaba said during an interview with FOX 17 after the event. “This is a historic moment. There are millions of Michiganders who believe in the right to reproductive freedom. They’re going to go to the ballot in November and vote yes."
