News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
91.7FM Alpena and WCML-TV Channel 6 Alpena are off the air. Click here to learn more.

Senate Dems call for debate on abortion rights; GOP leader says not now

Republican state Rep. Steve Carra sponsored a bill that would add penalties for performing an abortion in Michigan.
Michigan House Republicans
Republican state Rep. Steve Carra sponsored a bill that would add penalties for performing an abortion in Michigan.

State Senate Democrats took to the floor today to chastise Republicans for refusing to allow a vote on any bill to reverse or amend Michigan's dormant ban on abortion.

That ban could be restored if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses the Roe v. Wade decision in a ruling expected any day now. Some Republicans have proposed even more onerous restrictions, but those would be vetoed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Democratic Senator Mallory McMorrow said Michigan is not ready to deal with the ramifications if the court reverses Roe v. Wade. "The message pending from our U.S. Supreme Cour, should it fall and our Republican majority colleagues couldn't be clearer: if your birth control fails, you don't matter. If you're raped and you get pregnant, your hopes, dreams, and aspirations do not matter. You don't matter," she said.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey said Democrats are stoking "emotion and fear" before a decision has even been handed down.

In the meantime, a Michigan Court of Claims order would temporarily halt enforcement of the state's abortion ban while the legal issues are sorted out. That order is being challenged.

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