House GOP Block Dem Efforts to Vote on Abortion Access Bills 

by Allison R. Donohue, Michigan Advance

During the first session since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, House Democrats attempted Thursday night to bring bills to the floor for a roll call vote that would repeal the state’s 1931 abortion ban. 

State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) moved to discharge House Bill 5542, known as the Reproductive Health Act, and state Rep. Helena Scott (D-Detroit) moved to discharge House Bill 5289 from the Committee on Health Policy, where both bills have sat idly for months. 

Republicans in the House were quick to reject the motions from Pohutsky and Scott. 

“This is their law now, no longer just a relic of the Legislature of 90 years ago, this ancient and cruel law is clearly the policy of today’s Republican majority in 2022,” Scott said in a statement. 

HB 5542, introduced by Pohutsky and referred to the committee in November, aims to repeal the 1931 abortion ban, roll back abortion restrictions and increase access to abortion services and support. 

HB 5289, introduced by Rep. Kyra Bolden (D-Southfield) and referred to the committee in September, seeks to just repeal the 1931 abortion ban. 

Michigan’s 91-year-old law would make all abortions in the state a felony, unless to save the life of the “pregnant woman.” That law has not been in effect for nearly 50 years under Roe and is currently unenforceable because of a court-ordered injunction. 

Planned Parenthood of Michigan (PPMI) filed a lawsuit in April that would make the 1931 abortion ban unenforceable. In May, Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher ordered an injunction in the lawsuit, temporarily blocking enforcement of the ban until the court makes a final decision in the case. 

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also filed a lawsuit in April to block enforcement of the 1931 abortion ban. 

Earlier this month,  state Rep. Pamela Hornberger (R-Chesterfield Twp.) told Politico that Republicans in the Michigan Legislature aren’t “thinking we’re going to let this 1931 law go back into effect and people are going to start getting arrested. 

“Instead, we are fully prepared to have those difficult conversations with our colleagues,” Hornberger said. 

Rep. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) said Hornberger’s comments seemed to “signal a softening of their posture on this horrific law.”

“But it is clear today that those remarks were just political nonsense,” Hertel said. 

Pohutsky said her attempt to bring the bills to a vote was in efforts to further that conversation with her colleagues across the aisle.

“We gave them multiple avenues to address this issue,” Pohutsky said in a phone interview. “The fact of the matter is they don’t want to be on record opposing this because they know that the majority of Michiganders support access to abortion. They don’t want to actually deal with the issue, but they don’t want to go on record opposing something that the majority of their constituents support.”