Michigan group wants to ban abortions when fetal heartbeat is detected

May 21-- May 21--A ballot committee -- the Michigan Heartbeat Coalition -- has been formed and petition language has been filed with the Secretary of State seeking to ban abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected.

The petition drive comes on the heels of the state House and Senate passing legislation last week to ban an abortion procedure called dilation and evacuation, or D&E, which is commonly done during the second trimester of pregnancy.

The ballot committee made its announcement Tuesday, the same day that abortion rights supporters planned to rally in cities across Michigan, joining a National Day of Protest to Stop the Bans being enacted in states across the country.

"Once the heartbeat is detected, the baby is protected," said Mark Gurley, a Rockford resident and member of the coalition's board. "We also added language that will allow prosecutors to prosecute cases because the attorney general has said she won't enforce laws that she doesn't agree with."

Under the ballot proposal, doctors would be subject to a felony with a maximum sentence of 2-4 years if they perform an abortion after the heartbeat is detected. If the mother dies during the procedure, the sentence increases to 6-15 years.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has promised to veto the D&E bill when it reaches her desk and would do the same to a fetal heartbeat bill that is expected to be introduced by state Rep. Steven Johnson, R-Wayland, later this month.

A fetal heartbeat can be detected at roughly six weeks of pregnancy, at a time when many women don't even know they're pregnant.

Republicans hold majorities in both the state House and Senate and were unanimous in their support of the D&E ban last week, while all the Democrats opposed it. While the GOP has been whittling away at abortion rights for more than 20 years, a fetal heartbeat bill would be the most restrictive abortion bill considered by the Legislature.

"Thank God for you, that I have a veto to save our rights," Whitmer told an audience of Democrats in Detroit on Saturday. "We know the consequences of what the (2020) election means when it comes to appointments to the Supreme Court, when it comes to who sets the agenda and how we treat people."

The coalition for the petition drive would have to gather roughly 340,000 signatures from registered voters to put the issue before the Legislature, which could either pass the proposal or do nothing and the issue would go to voters on the 2020 ballot. Whitmer could not veto it in either case.

"The purpose of this petition drive is not only to protect babies with beating hearts in Michigan, it's about far more than that," Corey Shankleton, president of the coalition, said on the group's website. "The heartbeat bill is designed to be the arrow in the heart of Roe v. Wade."

Gurley said the coalition will use volunteers to gather signatures, "unless we raise enough money and are short on signatures, we may hire some people."

Michigan Right to Life has also filed paperwork with the SOS to start a petition drive to ban the D&E procedure once Whitmer vetoes that legislation.The group said it is not working with the heartbeat coalition because that provision couldn't become law until Roe v. Wade is overturned.

If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe, Michigan -- which still has a 1931 law on the books calling for a total ban on abortion but which became unenforceable when Roe was decided -- would again revert to that law.

If Roe is overturned, "our 100% abortion ban would also then be fully enforceable, making the heartbeat ban irrelevant," Right to Life of Michigan said on its website. "A heartbeat ban can never go into legal effect or stop a single abortion in Michigan."

Right to Life has been successful in four other petition drives over the years to bypass an expected gubernatorial veto and get laws put in place.

Gurley said the lack of cooperation from Right to Life is "unfortunate, but it's probably going to hurt them a little bit, because heartbeat bill is all over the national media."

The fetal heartbeat ballot proposal mirrors similar bills passed in Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas, North Dakota, Kentucky and Iowa. None have taken effect because they have either already been struck down by courts or have been put on hold pending legal challenges.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill last week that bans abortion in all cases except to save the life of the mother. Doctors would be subjected to criminal felony charges if they perform an abortion.

The onslaught of legislative action on the state level is a coordinated effort to get an anti-abortion case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which has become more conservative after two appointments by President Donald Trump and now has a solid 5-4 conservative majority. The hope of abortion opponents is that the court will eventually overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark case that legalized abortion.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, [email protected] or on Twitter @michpoligal.

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