Editorial: Michigan voters can show the country how to protect abortion rights, too.
Michigan is one of the nine states where a vote for Donald Trump is likely to decide the presidential election. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled twice this year to uphold abortion restrictions that protect the right of women to choose.
The Michigan Legislature passed a bill that would limit abortions to the first three weeks of pregnancy and would put in place one of the strictest abortion regulations in the country. It is similar to bills in Arizona, Ohio, Kansas, and Tennessee that have been vetoed or blocked by Republican state legislatures as unconstitutional.
But Trump is running for president on a platform that embraces pro-life policies. So far, his surrogates in the campaign have largely been in the pro-life camp. That is especially true in the states that have legalized abortion—Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee.
“Trump’s pro-life agenda is the policy agenda of the vast majority of pro-lifers,” said Annie Quigley, national director for Planned Parenthood Votes and the founder of a national pro-choice organization, the Pro-Life Action League.
Trump’s surrogates in Michigan have taken a cautious approach. In the lead-up to the state’s primary, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has issued an executive order prohibiting abortion in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman’s life is in danger.
However, Trump did not support the bill passed by the Michigan Legislature, which would ban abortion at six weeks.
“If you look at the bill, you look at it and you feel strongly against it, then you don’t vote for it,” Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson said.
Last week, Trump released the full text of an amendment he offered to expand Planned Parenthood’s abortion coverage in the Affordable Care Act, legislation proposed by Democrats and signed into law by President Obama. The Senate version of the bill would have required health insurance plans to cover abortions no later than 20 weeks and no later than 24 weeks. The House