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Today the Coalition to Protect Access to Care (CPAC) filed a complaint with the Bureau of Elections, challenging the validity of the signatures collected to ban a standard abortion procedure. CPAC is a ballot committee formed by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan to formally oppose efforts by anti-abortion extremists to ban a standard abortion procedure in Michigan by circumventing the legislative process and avoiding a vote of the people at the polls in November.
The filing is historic, marking the first time anyone has formally challenged a citizen’s initiative brought by Right to Life or raised the legal issues this challenge does.
“Today, I filed a complaint on behalf of the Coalition to Protect Access to Care outlining the defects with the petitions as filed by Michigan Values Life,” said attorney Mark Brewer. “There are at least 65 defective signatures in the 500-signature sample, including at least 21 duplicates – an unusually high rate. Given the findings of our review, we believe the Board has ample reason to decline to certify these signatures.”
In the complaint, CPAC asserts that the petition is legally defective on its face and lacks sufficient signatures to be certified.
Michigan Value Life (Right to Life of Michigan’s ballot committee) claimed to have filed 379,419 signatures, but the Bureau of Elections (BOE) found there were actually only 373,062 signatures filed.
Our review of the 500-signature sample pulled by the BOE found 65 defective signatures, including at least 21 signatures of voters who signed a second or third time elsewhere in the petition. Based on the sample, the duplication rate is 4.2%.
We’ve said all along that we would challenge this initiative at every opportunity because we know how dangerous it is for politics to dictate medical care. The vast majority of Michiganders agree that abortion should remain safe and legal, and that decisions about how and when to end a pregnancy should be made by doctors and patients, not politicians.
Interest groups want to unilaterally decide how doctors treat patients without letting voters weigh in. We owe it to every Michigander to ensure that this petition meets every standard required for certification before Right to Life is able to force their beliefs on millions of people, backed by the votes of less than two hundred.
Join us in the fight to protect access to safe, legal abortion by becoming a member today.
Paid for with regulated funds by Coalition to Protect Access to Care, P.O. Box 15041, Lansing, MI 48901.