© 2024 MICHIGAN PUBLIC
91.7 Ann Arbor/Detroit 104.1 Grand Rapids 91.3 Port Huron 89.7 Lansing 91.1 Flint
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Michigan physicians urge support for amendment guaranteeing abortion rights

people collecting signatures
Steve Carmody
/
Michigan Radio

A group of Michigan physicians spoke Monday in support of the Reproductive Freedom for All proposal. That measure would amend the Michigan constitution to give people the right to an abortion for the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Dr. Rob Davidson is the executive director of the Committee to Protect Health Care and an emergency physician in West Michigan. "Doctors like us strongly support this right," he said. "We urge Michigan residents to get involved to support and pass this proposal."

The physicians raised concerns over Michigan's 1931 law criminalizing abortion. They said the law could harm patients, but its exact effects are still unclear.

A Michigan judge temporarily blocked that law's enforcement in May, and top state officials have said abortion remains legal in Michigan, but some county prosecutors have said they will still pursue charges against doctors who perform the procedure.

Davidson also said the Committee to Protect Health Care plans to file an amicus brief in support of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's lawsuit asking the Michigan Supreme Court to strike down the 1931 law.

Sophia Kalakailo joined Michigan Radio in Sept. 2021 and is a senior at Michigan State University studying journalism and minoring in documentary production. She previously interned at Bridge Michigan and was an editor for The State News and The Eastern Echo covering a wide range of topics.
Related Content