Loren Khogali, Sommer Foster and Nicole Wells Stallworth
With Election Day approaching, misinformation regarding Proposal 3 is flooding the airwaves and filling mailboxes. As the leaders of three distinct and very different statewide organizations supporting reproductive freedom, we are compelled to set the record straight so that people will know the truth about what they are voting on.
It is really quite simple: When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year, the door was opened wide for the reactivation of a draconian 1931 law that criminalizes abortion in our state, even in cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. Anticipating that decision, we’d already been working to craft Proposal 3 as a commonsense response to the Supreme Court taking away abortion rights that have been in place for nearly 50 years. What Prop 3 does is retain for Michiganders the reproductive freedom established for all Americans when the Court first decided Roe in 1973.
There’s nothing extreme about that.
We believe that decisions regarding reproduction are up to individuals and their healthcare providers. Politicians should have no role in determining the outcome of such a highly personal decision. When complications arise during pregnancy, or there’s a medical crisis, doctors must have the freedom to act without being forced to look over their shoulders. Prop 3 ensures doctors can provide a full range of reproductive care without interference from lawmakers in Lansing.
There’s nothing extreme about that.
In fact, Prop 3 is being fully embraced by the mainstream medical establishment. The Michigan Nurses Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians are just a few of the state and national organizations endorsing Prop 3. In addition, more than 1,500 health care professionals have joined in urging people to vote “yes” on Prop 3.
This op-ed originally appeared in the Detroit Freep Press. Read the full opinion here:
https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/11/02/opinion-we-c...