Merissa Kovach, Field OrganizerShare this on Facebook | Tweet This
Yesterday, the Michigan Legislature voted and passed an initiative that effectively bans any health care policy issued in Michigan from providing abortion coverage, making comprehensive health care near impossible to obtain for a woman in our state.
The initiative, approved 62-47 by the House and 27-11 in the Senate will become law in March without the signature of Gov. Rick Snyder, who vetoed similar legislation a year ago.
Did your representative represent you? Check our list of legislators that voted to take health coverage away from women across our state.
This dangerous policy takes insurance coverage away from victims of rape and incest and puts the lives of women facing unexpected pregnancy complications at risk.
It is beyond us how anyone could support this initiative after the personal stories that were told in Lansing. Brave female legislators shared highly personal and painful stories in a plea to their colleagues to reject the initiative and allow voters across the state to decide to issue.
Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, in an emotional speech, disclosed that she was raped 20 years ago: “If this were law then and I had become pregnant, I would not be able to have coverage because of this. How extreme does this measure need to be? I’m not the only woman in our state that has faced that horrible circumstance…. I think you need to see the face of the women you are impacting by this vote today.”