At the Michigan Hall of Justice in Lansing, a few dozen people gathered on June 24, 2022 to celebrate the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. | Photo by Andrew Roth
While abortion rights advocates prepare on Monday to protest the two-year anniversary of the ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, one group is celebrating the milestone as having “reignited a national debate on life.”
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe and ended a 49-year precedent providing a federal right to obtain an abortion.
But for Right to Life of Michigan, the Dobbs ruling was a long time in coming.
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“We celebrate the long-awaited overturn of Roe v. Wade that reignited a national debate on life. This extraordinary opportunity has been overshadowed by the desperate attempts of big money donors and abortion-only special interests to politicize the issue for Democratic electoral gains,” said Amber Roseboom, president of Right to Life of Michigan (RLM). “Reproduction and abortion are not issues of any political party. They are and have always been decisions of the woman. Today, a woman in Michigan can choose to have an abortion for any reason. But for choice to truly exist, women must have every opportunity to make a choice for life.”
In November 2022, Michigan voters passed Proposal 3 with 57% of the vote, enshrining abortion rights in the Michigan constitution. Called the Reproductive Freedom for All (RFFA) amendment by organizers, it originated in anticipation of Roe’s demise and was then pushed to victory in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision.
Roseboom said RLM would use the Dobbs anniversary to spur its supporters to continued action.
“Two years after Dobbs, abortion clinics in Michigan are less safe than they were even a year ago, as a result of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her allies removing long-standing health and safety standards for abortion clinics,” she said. “It is time we refocus our collective efforts on serving women by championing expanded access to prenatal and postnatal care. We must also commit to offering robust support to the more than 100 Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) across our state that provide women free medical care, confidential counseling and material support.”
The safety standards Roseboom are a reference to the Reproductive Health Act (RHA), which Whitmer, a Democrat, signed into law in November. The legislation repealed several restrictions to reproductive health care, including the removal of some Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers, commonly known as TRAP laws, which place requirements of abortion providing facilities. Rural communities, specifically, don’t always meet that threshold.
“These are politically motivated, medically unnecessary restrictions on hallway width, ceiling height, HVAC system and janitor’s closets,” said Whitmer at the time she signed the bill into law. “These have nothing to do with providing the necessary health care.”
RLM said it is expanding its educational efforts across the state. The organization, which has rebranded with the slogan “Life. The Other Choice,” has expanded its staff team and youth outreach program, launched a new multi-media advertising campaign and begun what it calls “an aggressive campaign to elect candidates who stand for common-sense protections for women and children, like parental consent for abortion, in our state.”
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