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New Poll Shows Strong Support for a Reproductive Health Act
LANSING, MI – A coalition of reproductive health advocates applaud Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s commitment to reproductive freedom and call on state lawmakers to pass a Reproductive Health Act as a new poll shows 55% of battleground voters support the bill.
The Reproductive Health Act would repeal Michigan’s outdated and unnecessary abortion restrictions and ensure that Michiganders are free to make their own medical decisions without government interference.
Battleground voters support the bill overall as well as a wide range of provisions that would be included in a Reproductive Health Act:
Preventing criminal punishment for miscarriages and stillbirths (71% support, 57% strongly support)
Removing medically unnecessary rules that shut down clinics (61% support, 52% strongly support)
Allowing private insurance companies to include coverage for all pregnancy-related health care, including abortion (61% support, 49% strongly support)
Allowing advanced practice clinicians who are properly trained to provide abortion care (58% support, 45% strongly support)
Repealing laws that force patients seeking abortion care to delay their care and receive biased, medically inaccurate information (53% support, 45% strongly support); and
Allowing Medicaid to cover all pregnancy-related health care, including abortion (54% support, 42% strongly support).
Support for a Reproductive Health Act comes as last year’s win on Proposition 3 showed that voters want access to reproductive health care, including abortion.
“We must continue the momentum to remove the barriers to abortion access that deprive people of this constitutional right,” said Loren Khogali, Executive Director of the ACLU of Michigan. “Michiganders want our state legislators to ensure access to safe, legal abortion by repealing medically unnecessary laws that limit access so that we all have the freedom to control our lives and futures without government interfering. Thousands are forced to drive hundreds of miles to access abortion care. Others are denied access because they can’t afford it. No one should be denied critical health care because of who they are, where they live, or how much money they have. We need a Reproductive Health Act now.”
“Michigan voters sent a clear message last November when they approved Proposal 3 with overwhelming support, enshrining reproductive freedom into our state constitution, but our work is not over,” said Paula Thornton Greear, Interim Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan. “Our polling is clear -- voters are calling on the state legislature to finish the work of Proposal 3 and ensure that everyone can access the care guaranteed to them under the state constitution. The Reproductive Health Act will help ensure meaningful access to abortion for all Michiganders, and anyone else who travels here for care, without unnecessary, and now unconstitutional barriers.”
“Michiganders voted overwhelmingly to ensure that the right to abortion remains legal in Michigan, but many barriers to access that care remain,” said Sommer Foster, Executive Director of Michigan Voices. “These barriers have no basis in medicine and make it difficult for everyone -- especially Black, Brown, LGBTQ and rural Michiganders -- to get the care that they need. Michigan Voices thanks Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for prioritizing reproductive health access this legislative session. Removing barriers to abortion care is critical and we hope that the legislature will act soon so that everyone can get the care that they need.”
"Doctors don't want politicians and their medically unnecessary laws interfering with our patients' health care, and neither do Michiganders," said Dr. Rob Davidson, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Health Care and west Michigan emergency physician. "Removing these harmful barriers will not just fulfill the promise of Proposal 3, but also help improve health outcomes for patients across the state. We're encouraged by Governor Whitmer's commitment to reproductive freedom and look forward to working with lawmakers to protect our patients' freedom to make their own decisions around abortion."
“From approving Prop 3 to electing champions up and down the ticket, there is no question that Michigan voters support reproductive freedom and want to see their lawmakers champion it,” said Mini Timmaraju, President at NARAL Pro-Choice America. “The passage of the Reproductive Health Act would be a major step forward for Michiganders, who overwhelmingly voiced their support for equitable abortion access in the November elections. We’re grateful to Gov. Whitmer for continuing to fight for our fundamental rights, and we urge the state legislature to act swiftly and pass this vital legislation so every Michigander can get the care they urgently need.”
About the ACLU of Michigan
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is a nonpartisan nonprofit leading the fight to defend and preserve the rights our Constitution and laws guarantee all people through public education, advocacy, organizing, and litigation.
About Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan (PPAM) is the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood of Michigan. PPAM works in conjunction with Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund at the national level, as well as our health center/education affiliate Planned Parenthood of Michigan, supporters, and patients at the state level to ensure access to reproductive health for all Michiganders.
About Michigan Voices
Michigan Voices, an affiliate of the States Voices network, was established in 2005 as the state-wide 501(c)(3) civic engagement collaborative table to educate, engage, activate, and protect underrepresented and systematically disenfranchised communities. We provide resources to help nonprofit organizations that are led by and engage BIPOC people to build civic capacity and become self-sustaining in their mission to bring social justice to their communities. As part of this mission, Michigan Voices convenes and leads the largest coalition of organizations dedicated to advancing reproductive justice in Michigan.
About the Committee to Protect Health Care
The Committee to Protect Health Care is a national mobilization of doctors, health care professionals, and advocates who are building a pro-patient health care majority in Congress and in states so that we can live in an America where everyone has the health care they need to thrive.
About NARAL Pro-Choice America
For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.