(WWJ) — Reactions have been pouring in Friday after a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended constitutional protections for abortion.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke live with WWJ's Tony Ortiz, calling the ruling "devastating" and a "scary moment" for woman in the state and beyond.
“These are rights I’ve had my whole life that now my daughters won't have," Whitmer told Ortiz. "Woman won't have the same rights to make their own bodily decisions and their own reproductive health decisions because the Supreme Court has just taken that guarantee away.”
The governor said she wasn't surprised at the ruling, given the majority draft opinion that was leaked earlier in the year. Whitmer stressed that Friday's ruling will not change anything in Michigan at the moment, but it remains a precarious moment nonetheless.
The governor filed a lawsuit back in April, asking the Michigan Supreme Court to recognize a constitutional right to an abortion under the Due Process Clause of the Michigan Constitution. It also asks the court to stop enforcement of the 1931 Michigan abortion ban.
The law reads as follows:
“Administering drugs, etc., with intent to procure miscarriage — Any person who shall willfully administer to any pregnant woman any medicine, drug, substance or thing whatever, or shall employ any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of any such woman, unless the same shall have been necessary to preserve the life of such woman, shall be guilty of a felony, and in case the death of such pregnant woman be thereby produced, the offense shall be deemed manslaughter.” (Read the law HERE).
Whitmer's lawsuit claims the abortion ban violates Michigan’s due process clause, which provides a right to privacy and bodily autonomy that is violated by the state’s near-total criminal ban of abortion. It also violates Michigan’s Equal Protection Clause due to the way the ban denies women equal rights because the law was adopted to reinforce antiquated notions of the proper role for women in society.
Related
"Should our injunction on the 1931 law get taken away, we would revert to a law that is 91-years-old that would make [abortion] a felony in Michigan and have no exception for rape or incest," Whitmer explained. "That's why this is a sobering and scary moment for so many."
Whitmer filed a motion in court shortly after the Supreme Court's ruling was made public on Friday, in an effort to expedite the Michigan Supreme Court's decision on her lawsuit.
"Time is of the essence," Whitmer said. "Women’s lives are going to weigh in the balance here."
The governor called having the ability to decide when and whether to have children the "most important economic decision a woman makes in her lifetime."
According to Whitmer, over 70% of people support women making their own healthcare decisions and the governor said she will continue to advocate for a woman's right to keep making those decisions.
"Every Michigander is entitled to their own set of beliefs, but our beliefs should not dictate someone else’s right and that's what is happening here," she told Ortiz. "I will respect someone's decision not to bear a child, even if it was unplanned or if it might cost them their own lives or if it was a result of rape or incest, but the fact of the matter is, not everyone should be forced to do that under penalty of law and that's what I'm fighting for — everyone's right to make their own healthcare choices."
Related
Whitmer did not budge when asked about coming together with GOP leaders, as suggested by Michigan Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, to find common ground on the state's abortion ban, stating that Republican leaders in the state legislature have endorsed the 1931 law that would "take women back decades".
"I don’t see how there is a possibility of finding common ground when that is how extreme they are," Whitmer fired back. "In fact, they even want to go a step further. Yesterday they introduced legislation to put nurses in jail for up to 10 years. That is where they are headed."
"Where I am headed is just trying to preserve the rights I have had my whole life and to make sure every woman in Michigan has those same rights."
The governor argued that stripping Michigan woman -- which make up 52% of the state's population -- of their right to make healthcare decisions goes beyond the medical office.
"It's going to have incredible ripping effects all across our economy and our homes."
Whitmer pointed out that the Supreme Court's ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade won't only affect women, saying other rights for many could now be in jeopardy.
"Any right conferred by subject of due process is now very much at risk," Whitmer told Ortiz.
She said other rights concerning contraception, interracial marriage, same sex marriage and more are now in danger of being overturned.
"This isn't just about woman and their families, this is something that can impact rights for so many people in this country.