By Amber Roseboom, Right to Life of Michigan President. This is an article from the 2024 RLM News Fall edition.
There is no question that we are in a unique moment in American politics as much of the political debate centers on life issues. Gone are the days of Bill Clinton’s “safe, legal and rare.” Today’s pro-abortion movement – candidates, electeds, activists and providers alike – have dispensed with the past in favor of using women and fully unregulated abortion as a cross means to an end: absolute power through hoped for electoral gains at all costs. Desperate to mobilize their weary base, the national Democratic Party is making abortion the tip of the spear in their case to the American public. Michigan’s Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, said the quiet part out loud when she told Politico, “The challenge and opportunity is to link reproductive freedom to economic and political freedom.”
For Americans who wonder what is at stake, they need look no further than Michigan, ground zero for abortion politics.
1) Attempting to mobilize voters with a lie about threats to abortion access.
In Michigan, one of three must-win target states in this year’s presidential election (Wisconsin and Pennsylvania being the others), Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Vice President Kamala Harris and a slew of campaign surrogates are peddling the fantasy that “reproductive freedoms” are at stake. The problem, of course, is this claim has zero basis in reality. A woman in Michigan can access abortion at any point in her pregnancy for any reason, as a result of Proposal 3 passing in 2022. Beyond that, IVF is not, nor has it ever been at risk in Michigan, nor has contraception. These are the simple facts.
2) Compromising women’s health through the large-scale deregulation of the abortion industry. Abortion-obsessed politicians target safeguards around abortion with a wrecking ball.
In Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan, women are at far greater risk of harm when they enter an abortion clinic today that they were even a couple of years ago. Abortion clinic health and safety regulations are gone. Women no longer need to be provided basic medical facts about an abortion before having one. Non-physicians are now able to perform abortions. Simultaneously, the 2023 abortion statistics recently released by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services show serious complications from abortion spiking, up 38% in just one year. Partial birth abortion is legalized. And the ACLU of Michigan brought a lawsuit to force taxpayers in Michigan to pay for abortions through Medicaid funding.
Now, Governor Whitmer has her sights set on further chipping away at parental rights, intent on overturning parental consent for a minor girl seeking an abortion. Currently, a minor girl seeking an abortion must receive her parent’s consent or seek a judicial bypass before obtaining an abortion. Pro-abortion politicians are unfazed by the fact that parental consent enjoys the support of 68% of voters.
3) Responding with compassion. The pro-life movement in Michigan is shaping the path forward. We know a woman can choose abortion for any reason, but for CHOICE to truly exist, women must have every opportunity to make a hopeful, courageous choice for life.
Right to Life of Michigan’s more than 80 affiliates and thousands of volunteers are energized for the days ahead, committed to changing hearts and minds so women have every opportunity to make a choice for life. We have launched a new campaign, “Life. The Other Choice.,” that includes multi-media ads with an invitation to call or text a hotline (1-800-712-HELP) that connects a woman with the Pregnancy Resource Center closest to her. (Michigan has 100 Pregnancy Resource Centers across the state.)
Our Political Action Committee is in full swing with more than 200 pro-life endorsed candidates in the state and an aggressive Get-Out-the-Vote effort underway on their behalf. This year, we must be laser-focused on electing candidates who stand for common-sense protections for women and children, including the unborn, protections like parental consent and expanded prenatal and post-natal care.
There is no question the pro-life movement faces challenges today, but they are not unlike the challenges of the past. Despite the loud noise of the abortion lobby, a much bigger narrative is unfolding. With Roe overturned, the pro-life movement has the opportunity to take its case to the American people, not with force or judgment but with a compelling invitation to choose life and the practical support to do it. This really is our time. Let’s take it!
If you’re interested in volunteering to help elect pro-life candidates or serve in some other capacity, please email us at [email protected].
God bless!