MICHIGAN — Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order refusing to extradite women who come to Michigan seeking reproductive health care. The order also protects providers of abortion, which is legal in Michigan, from extradition for prosecution in another state for offering reproductive health care.
“After the overturn of Roe v Wade and the ensuing implementation of a series of extreme bans on abortion that criminalize women and medical professionals across the country, visitors to Michigan must know that they can access reproductive health care within our borders without fear of extradition. That is why I signed an executive order today refusing to cooperate with out-of-state law enforcement seeking to punish women for seeking health care,” said Governor Whitmer. “ I will stand up for all women, even if their local and statewide leaders refuse to. Michigan must remain a place where a person’s basic rights are preserved. In this existential moment for fundamental rights, it is incumbent on every elected official who believes that health—not politics—should guide medical decisions to take bold action.”
The Washington Post has recently reported that anti-abortion groups are pushing Republican-led states to pass Constitutionally dubious laws that would ban interstate travel for health care. President Biden has also predicted this could happen and has promised the Federal Government would protect women seeking to do so.
“People are gonna be shocked when the first state … tries to arrest a woman for crossing a state line to get health services. And I don’t think people believe that’s gonna happen. But it’s gonna happen, and it’s gonna telegraph to the whole country that this is a gigantic deal that goes beyond; I mean, it affects all your basic rights,” Biden stated in a meeting with Democratic governors.
