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GOP bill would enact harsh punishment on abortion providers

A Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis is shown in June. The clinic has all but ceased providing abortions after Missouri tightened restrictions.
Jeff Roberson
/
AP
A Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis is shown in June. The clinic has all but ceased providing abortions after Missouri tightened restrictions.

Republicans in the Legislature have sponsored a bill that would impose penalties of up to 20 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines on abortion providers.

These new penalties would be on top of Michigan’s existing but dormant abortion ban that could take effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

Representative Steve Carra says if that happens, he wants tougher punishments for abortion providers. “It’s not a de minimis crime. It’s a life in the womb and to willfully take the life of an innocent human being should come with harsh penalties,” he says.

“This bill introduced by Representative Carra takes something that was extreme and makes it even more extreme.” That’s House Democratic Leader Donna Lasinski.

Republicans control the House and the Senate. If the bill is adopted, Governor Gretchen Whitmer is an ardent advocate for abortion rights and would certainly veto it.

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network.