Gov. Whitmer signs repeal of Michigan abortion ban

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (WNDU) - Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed a bill repealing the state’s 1931 abortion ban.

Whitmer was joined by doctors, reproductive rights advocates, and lawmakers on Wednesday morning in Birmingham for the historic bill signing.

Michigan had a law from 1931 on the books banning abortion without exceptions for rape or incest. It also allowed doctors and nurses who offer reproductive care to be prosecuted.

Michiganders turned out in record numbers to get Proposal 3 on the ballot and voted to enshrine reproductive freedom into the state constitution after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Whitmer said the state government will not interfere with the decisions made between families when it comes to childbirth.

”We know that the decision when and whether or not to bear a child is the most consequential decision economically that a family or a woman will make in her lifetime,” the governor said. “The government has no business getting in the way of conversations between women and their doctors.”

The bill signed on Wednesday repeals two state laws — one that makes it a felony to administer an abortion to a pregnant woman unless deemed necessary to preserve the life of the woman, and another that makes it a misdemeanor to sell or advertise medication for an abortion.

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