Move comes in first day of House session since SCOTUS Dobbs decision
LANSING, Mich., June 30, 2022 — House Democrats moved to bring a bill to the floor, via a discharge motion, that would repeal the 1931 near-total ban on abortion that remains the state-level law. Republicans in the House voted against the discharge to keep the law from being repealed. Speaker Pro Tempore Pam Hornberger (R-Chesterfield Township) today refused considerations to repeal the 1931 ban while she presided at the rostrum over the chamber, taking action to keep this law in effect. Democrats also attempted a discharge motion to bring to the floor the Reproductive Health Act.
“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,” said state Representative Helena Scott (D-Detroit), who made the discharge motion on the repeal of the 1931 abortion ban. “We had an opportunity once again to pull this terrible law off the books, and the House Republicans fought to keep it the law. Michigan must be better than this now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, for the health and safety of millions of Michiganders, and we will never stand for the Republican majority lying about their absolute support of this law to the press, defending this exact law in court, and fighting to keep this law on the House floor today.”
“After the recent remarks from Republican leadership it seemed to signal a softening of their posture on this horrific law, but it is clear today that those remarks were just political nonsense,” says Rep. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores). “This near-total abortion ban is the policy they want in place, and they’ve never missed an opportunity to eagerly and earnestly defend it. Today’s vote was a continuation of where they stand, not a revelation.”
“After the Dobbs decision, it is absolutely crucial that we pass the Reproductive Health Act, and today being our first day back in session since that terrible ruling, provided a perfect opportunity to defend the rights of Michiganders,” said state Representative Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia), chair of the Progressive Women’s Caucus who made the discharge motion on the Reproductive Health Act. “Personal freedoms, rights to privacy, marriage and contraceptive choices are all under attack from extremist right-wing forces in our government, and today, the Republicans in Lansing continued these attacks.”