GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, state lawmakers, doctors and activists gathered on Monday for a roundtable discussion on the Reproductive Health Act (RHA), a series of 11 house bills (HB 4949–4959), that sponsors say aims to remove barriers to reproductive health.
The bill package includes measures to remove the 24-hour required waiting period for abortions, remove licensing restrictions on facilities that provide abortion services, and eliminate criminal punishment for miscarriages and stillbirths, among others.
Governor Whitmer explained on Monday that passing Proposal 3, which established a right to reproductive freedom in the Michigan Constitution, was just the beginning. Now, she says these next steps are about expanding access to reproductive services and care.
"Over decades, there have been statutes put on the books that make it harder for women to access their full panoply of reproductive rights, and so our job now is to level those barriers, and that's why we can't stop. We can't think that the work is done."
The RHA would also allow Medicaid recipients to have abortion procedures covered. Grand Rapids State Rep. Kristian Grant is the sponsor of HB 4959.
She says this is about equity.
"Although we have cleared laws off of the books and we're looking at removing other barriers, there still isn't true access for all women or people who are bearing children, and so this would be the piece that takes it a step further."
At this point, six of the 11 bills have passed out of committee. The others remain in the House Committee on Health Policy.
Meanwhile, the "Michigan Coalition to protect a Woman’s Right to Know," which includes "Right to Life," says it strongly opposes the Reproductive Health Act, arguing the bills would strip “long-standing protections for women and children from Michigan law.”
Their statement says the RHA was “hastily crafted and extends far beyond anything conceived of by any past administration. Passage would present an immediate threat to women and children across our state.”
