Michigan Lawmaker Says Abortion 'Should Be Painful'

MICHIGAN — A Michigan state Senator said that she believes abortion “should be painful” during the controversial debate over legislation to ban a common abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation or D&E.

"Of course it should be hard, and the procedure should be painful, and you should allow God to take over, and you should deliver that baby, and you should handle the situation," Republican state Senator Kim LaSata said Tuesday, responding to objections that the legislation would make dilation and evacuation procedures dangerous and more painful, Newsweek reported.

The legislator also reportedly spoke about her own effort to terminate a pregnancy and said she delivered a stillborn child.

"Until the day abortion is made illegal, I will fight for those unborn babies," she said.

Michigan's House and Senate both voted along party lines Tuesday on legislation to ban D&E procedures and to make it a felony for a physician to perform them except to save a woman's life.

Anti-abortion advocates call the procedure "dismemberment abortion" and argue it is a cruel practice that should be outlawed, the Detroit News reported. Critics say the proposed ban is an unconstitutional attempt to undermine legal abortion rights guaranteed under Roe v. Wade.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said Tuesday that she will immediately veto the legislation once it reaches her desk.

"I think that these are decisions that should be made between a woman and her doctor," Whitmer told reporters. "I've always supported a woman's autonomy and freedom to make her own choices, and that should be no surprise to anyone in this town."

Right to Life of Michigan has filed paperwork to begin a petition drive to bypass Whitmer’s promised veto of legislation to ban the dismemberment abortion procedure.

“Governor Whitmer still has the chance to change her mind and do the right thing," Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said. "If she won’t sign these bills to stop babies from having their arms and legs torn off, we’ll find 400,000 Michigan citizens who will sign it.”

Right to Life of Michigan says it will be using Michigan’s citizen-initiated legislation process to send the bills directly to the Michigan Legislature for passage, entirely bypassing the governor.

The name of the initiative is "Michigan Values Life: End Dismemberment Abortions."

The initiative’s goal is to collect 400,000 signatures. The required number of signatures for initiated legislation is 340,047; 8 percent of the 2018 total votes cast in the governor’s race.

During a D&E, doctors dilate the patient's cervix and remove the fetus with suction and medical tools like forceps, according to the Huffington Post report.

The procedure is commonly used in the second trimester of pregnancy, usually after about 13 weeks of gestation, according to Planned Parenthood.

In 2017, 1,777 D&E procedures were performed in Michigan, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. That's out of 26,600 total abortions, the Detroit News reported.

The new plan amends Michigan's partial abortion ban to prevent physicians from performing the D&E procedure, unless an abortion is performed using a suction, Up North Live reported. The legislation would apply a two-year felony and a possible fine of $50,000 to those performing the abortion, the report said.

The woman would not be charged and the language makes an exception for situations where the mother's life is at risk.

The only other states that have specific bans in effect on D&E procedures are Mississippi and West Virginia.