LANSING, Michigan (LifeSiteNews) — Michigan Democrats continued their push to remove any limits on the intentional killing of preborn babies up until the moment of birth, with a late-night passage on Wednesday of House Bill 4949.
The “Reproductive Health Act” legislation follows up on a vote last November to enshrine a “right” to abortion in the state constitution.
Democrats failed to remove a 24-hour waiting period prior to a woman killing her baby in the womb as well as a ban on Medicaid funding for abortions. The bill passed by one vote, 56-54. Those two provisions enabled Democrats to win back Rep. Karen Whitsett, a Detroit Democrat, who had held up passage of the legislation, according to The Detroit News.
A Michigan Senate vote is expected soon. Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer supports the official position of the Democratic Party, which is to allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy without any limits.
The legislation states:
Every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including, but not limited to, prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management, and infertility care.
The law contains a practically meaningless provision that the state can regulate abortion after fetal viability, but it is not allowed to punish any woman, abortionist, or other individual who assists in abortions.
The legislation drew opposition from Republicans, with one calling it “legalized murder.”
“Over 60 million babies have died because of abortion,” since the 1970s, Rep. Josh Schriver said during debate.
“If this bill passes, Michigan will become a destination state for the mass genocide of preborn children,” Schriver said.
“This package deserves to be called ‘legalized murder of vulnerable children up until birth,'” Schriver said, before Speaker Pro Tempore Laurie Pothusky ordered him not to “impugn the motives” of his “colleagues.”
Although the legislation will allow for the unrestricted killing of preborn babies at any stage of the pregnancy, it did not go far enough for Planned Parenthood, which criticized the minimal restrictions still in place.
While the abortion giant is pleased in general with the law, it said the legislation “leave[s] dangerous restrictions in place that directly impact patients and disproportionately harm Black and Brown communities, low-income people, and rural Michiganders, worsening health care equity statewide.”
Right to Life of Michigan criticized the legislation, though primarily because it removed safety regulations on abortion facilities.
“Michigan citizens expect that surgical abortion clinics will be held to the same level of safety and sanitation as every other surgical facility in the state,” Legislative Director Genevieve Marnon stated. “Yet the passage of the RHA threatens women’s health by repealing the requirement that surgical abortion clinics be licensed, inspected, and safe. We urge our State Senators to vote no on these dangerous bills which run contrary to the will of Michigan voters.”