LANSING — Yesterday, Detroit Metro Times reported that Republican gubernatorial candidate James Craig would ensure that a severely restrictive Michigan law from 1931, that criminalizes abortion and makes reproductive healthcare providers felons, stays in place — by whatever means necessary.
When asked to comment on this revelation, Craig’s campaign doubled-down on his support for the law, stating that he “is unapologetically pro-life and opposes liberal efforts for abortion on demand, late term abortions, and partial birth abortions.”
The law is currently dormant due to Roe v. Wade. However should it get overturned, Michigan would immediately revert to this total abortion ban that would be the most restrictive in the country according to Right to Life of Michigan.
This landmark decision has been under threat since it was handed down decades ago but hangs in the balance now more than ever before as a conservative majority Supreme Court has already allowed Texas’ six-week ban to go into effect and prepares to hear Mississippi’s case directly challenging Roe v. Wade in December.
This means that Michigan’s next governor could be the last line of defense in the fight for reproductive rights for the first time since 1973. Governor Whitmer has called on Michigan’s legislature to repeal the 1931 law so that the right to medical privacy is maintained within the state regardless of what happens at the federal level.
MDP spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite issued the following statement:
“If the abortion laws you’d like to protect as governor level criminal penalties so extreme they makes Texas’ look like child’s play, you’re running in the wrong millennium. James Craig’s full-throated endorsement of the exceedingly aggressive punishments laid out in the 1931 law shows that he’s been dodging questions because he knows his position is extreme and out-of-touch with Michiganders. Michigan women and families deserve a leader that will vow to be the last line of defense should Roe v. Wade get overturned by protecting their right to choose and ensuring their continued access to critical healthcare. That’s why Governor Whitmer called on the legislature to repeal this draconian law weeks ago.”
