Life after Prop 3 the first battle will be over parental consent
Who cares more for your children, the State or you?
In order to get an ear pierced or a tattoo a minor must get parental consent. To go on a field trip a minor must get parental consent. But to get a life changing abortion a minor does not need any consent?
That's the way things may go.
In "The Haunting of Michigan" Chris Gast (RLM Education Coordinator) points out that:
So far, none of our prolife laws have been challenged in our court and thrown out using Proposal 3. But one obstacle to that route is that to have a case [that] requires our Michigan government to adequately enforce the abortion laws. The other, more immediate route, is simply using their legislative majorities to repeal our laws.
What is preventing them from just repealing the parental consent laws?
MI Catholic Conference (@MICatholicConf) on twitter posted a poll showing 67% of Michigan voters support Parental Consent.
Most Michigan voters support long-standing regulations on abortion, such as parental consent requirements for their children's abortion, 24-hour waiting periods, and health and safety standards on abortion clinics, according to polling commissioned by MCC [Michigan Catholic Conference].
Will that stop the abortion advocates?
No.
In a May 30 article on Gongwer blog, Alethia Kasben writes:
The leader for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, which supports a repeal, said foster children in particular get caught up in the legal system since it's harder to get consent from a parent. The group is calling on the Legislature to remove barriers to access.
That barrier is Parental Consent for Abortion Law passed in 1990.
In that law it states:
The waiver would be in the best interest of the minor if a minor reveals to the probate court that she is the victim of sexual abuse, and that her pregnancy is, or may be, the result of sexual abuse. The probate court will report it to the Department of social services or a law enforcement agency pursuant to the child protection law.
Which, hopefully, will lead law enforcement to protect the girl from future abuse and prevent her abuser from abusing others. What's wrong with that? Nothing, unless you favor unlimited abortions.
Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) calls it an "unnecessary restriction". From Kasban's article:
Pohutsky is working on legislation to repeal what advocates call "trap laws," which she said limit access to abortion with unnecessary restrictions.
This could include parental consent. Pohutsky noted previous iterations of legislation she has backed repealed the requirement.
However, she said conversations are ongoing to attempt to get all members on board.
Those conversations include what she calls "education" - manipulation aimed at convincing voters that striking the law protecting their parental rights will not impact them, even though they will no longer have the ability to even know that their daughters are contemplating an abortion.
Articles referenced in this post:
"The Haunting of Michigan" by Chris Gast was an email newsletter from Right to Life of Michigan. You can join their mailing list in the footer on their webpage rtl.org
MI Catholic Conference twitter post is dated May 16, 2023 @10:01am
https://twitter.com/MICatholicConf/status/1658472622739570688
The Gongwer Blog article "Advocates Seek Changes To Parental Consent For Abortion" by Alethia Kasben on May 30, 2023 https://www.gongwer.com/blog/?postid=147801
The Parental Consent for Abortion Law was quoted from "The Importance of Parental Consent" from our website https://rtlstjoseph.com/2023/06/the-importance-of-parental-consent/
The actual law itself can be read here:
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(j0t1qdtbgwlyssuxytmtiyst))/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-Act-211-of-1990.pdf