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(LifeSiteNews) – Citizens of Michigan may be able to vote to enshrine a “right” to abortion into the state constitution, now that the signature threshold to present the issue on the November ballot has been met.

The proposed amendment states, “Every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” including the right to make decisions about so-called “abortion care.”

It adds that “the state may regulate” abortion “after fetal viability” except in cases where abortion is “medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health” of the mother.

This means that abortion would be effectively allowed up to the moment of birth for any reason construed as vital to a woman’s “mental health.” Pro-life activists are criticizing it as an “anything-goes” measure that would allow minors to obtain abortions without parental consent.

Merissa Kovach, policy strategist with the American Civil Liberties Union in Michigan, told Bridge Michigan that the “Reproductive Freedom for All” constitutional amendment received a boost in signatures after Roe v. Wade was struck down and gathered the more than 425,059 required to appear on the ballot. 

READ: Texas judge blocks total abortion ban, six-week heartbeat law remains in place

Michigan is one of 13 states with a pre-Roe abortion ban, under which illegal abortions can result in penalties of up four years in prison, but a Michigan judge has temporarily blocked it, and radical lesbian Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has refused to enforce it.

Despite the court injunction, prosecutors in Kent and Jackson counties said they would consider prosecuting abortion providers, since the injunction only applies to the state and not to county prosecutors, according to their attorney, David Kallman.

“It’s laughable to take the position that abortion is still legal in Michigan” because of a state-level injunction, argued Kallman. “That’s ridiculous. That is simply not true.”

The largest hospital system in Michigan, BHSH System, has also said that it will abide by the law, nevertheless, and permit abortions only if “medically necessary.”

Leftist politicians and abortion providers, however, insist that the court injunction renders abortion legal. “Let me be clear – abortion is still legal in Michigan, and our doors are open,” said Dr. Sarah Wallett, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Michigan, in a statement.

Nessel said she sees the constitutional amendment ballot measure as the best long-term way to ensure women can get abortions in Michigan. “I think that is the best way, the easiest way to ensure that these fundamental rights [sic] are codified into Michigan’s constitution — not just for now, but for years or decades to come,” said Nessel. 

Citizens to Support MI Women and Children and the Michigan Catholic Conference have decried the amendment as “dangerous,” not only for unborn children, but for women and girls, considering its wide scope. The amendment would also enshrine a right to decisions regarding “contraception” and “sterilization,” without imposed age limits.

READ: Arizona attorney general says he will enforce complete abortion ban

Citizens to Support MI Women and Children believe the amendment “would likely impact” the following:

  • Parental consent for children’s medical treatment that involves sex or pregnancy, including sterilizations
  • Ban on school employees helping children have abortions
  • Any parental consent for children seeking abortions
  • Statutory rape and incest laws
  • Screening for women being coerced to have abortions
  • Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
  • Born-Alive Infant Protection Act
  • Increased penalties for abortions after viability
  • Requirement that only doctors perform abortion
  • Licensing and health and safety requirements for abortion facilities
  • Ban on tax-funded abortions
  • Preventing health insurance from automatically covering elective abortions
  • Informed consent requirement for women seeking abortions
  • 24-hour waiting period for abortion
  • Requirements that women be offered the chance to see an ultrasound before the abortion
  • Conscience protections for doctors and nurses who object to performing abortions
  • Reporting requirements on abortion statistics and complications
  • Michigan’s original abortion ban, passed in 1846 and updated in 1931
  • Michigan Surrogate Parenting Act and a ban on commercialized surrogacy
  • Ban on human cloning

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