At this time, the Board of Directors of Right to Life-LIFESPAN will support the Citizen’s Initiative Petition being circulated to ban dismemberment abortions in the State of Michigan.
In 2003, again by way of an Citizen’ Initiative Petition, the State of Michigan banned what is known as Partial Birth Abortion in which all but the living infant’s head is delivered, intact, from the woman’s body and a sharp instrument is inserted into the back of the baby’s neck, into the brain, causing death. (The ban was found constitutional by the US Supreme Court in 2007 Gonzales v Carhart) When this procedure was disallowed, abortion practitioners began using dismemberment abortions to bring about the child’s death. Instead of partially delivering the living baby’s body, medical instruments are inserted into the woman’s uterus and the baby’s limbs are cut from his/her body and brought out of the uterus, piece by piece. This procedure also provides intact fetal body parts, much sought after for research purposes. It is this procedure that the dismemberment ban petition is intended to prohibit.
Our Michigan legislature has already passed such a ban, and the current governor has promised to veto this and any other measure that restricts abortion practice in our state. The goal of the Initiative Petition drive is to secure a sufficient number of signatures to bring the issue back directly to our legislature where a simple majority vote by the legislators on the measure will again ban this procedure. The language cannot be changed or amended and must be voted on as presented. Assuming our Michigan legislators will again approve the ban, it then becomes law and cannot be vetoed by the governor. Should the legislature choose not to vote on the measure, it then goes onto the November ballot for a vote of the citizens of the State of Michigan.
Diane Trombley – Oakland/Macomb Chapter Director