New legislation approved recently by Michigan’s predominantly Republican Senate, has changed the law regarding certain aspects of abortion, namely the coerced variety. Bill-backers are saying this a greater problem than many people realize.
As of now, forcing a woman against her will to end a pregnancy, or even pressuring her into having an abortion when she doesn’t want to terminate her pregnancy, is considered a criminal act.
Under the new law, threatening a pregnant women, stalking her or assaulting her in any way with the intention of causing her to abort is a felony. The punishment would depend, however, on the type of action taken against the victim. Even threatening to retaliate by terminating any financial support that is legally required, withdrawing from contractual obligations, or firing her from a job in order to coerce an abortion is now illegal. These actions would result in misdemeanor charges.
The bills, which were approved by a large majority of 26 to 11, were cited by supporters as being another way to protect victims of prostitution and human trafficking. These women are often forced to undergo abortion procedures in order to keep them available to a wider selection of buyers. Senator Rick Jones summed up his position by saying, “If you don’t support this, you’re supporting the pimps and human traffickers that are victimizing women every day in this state.”
Not everyone thinks this law is a good idea
But not everyone thinks this law is a good idea. Detractors who voted against it and attempted to amend it, claimed that stalking, threatening and assaulting a person are already illegal. They say this law is redundant. In the words of Senator Rebekah Warren, the bill is an “answer in search of a question.”
A law passed in 2012 requires that abortion clinics screen all of their patients before performing any procedures to ensure that none of them were there under duress. However, the act of coercing an abortion was not technically criminalized. This meant that a frightened woman would deny being coerced by a partner or family member and there would be no repercussions if it ever came to light that she had indeed been coerced.
But many legislators are claiming that the screenings aren’t being properly performed. In some cases, they aren’t happening at all, because there is no legal ramifications for coercing an abortion. These bills, however, will change that.
However, certain lawmakers who spoke out against the bill claim that part of the problem is that it only addresses a limited number of scenarios with regard to pregnancy and a woman’s reproductive rights. Senator Warren, for example, says that the new law doesn’t address other related scenarios in which a woman is forced to become pregnant, or forced to remain pregnant when she doesn’t want to. Senator Warren lobbied for amendments that would have expanded the bill, but was overruled on that front.
The legislation is now headed to the House for further deliberation.