The Latest: Michigan Senate votes to ban abortion procedure

LANSING, Mich. — The Latest on the Michigan Legislature’s consideration of anti-abortion bills (all times local):

12 p.m.

Republican-backed legislation advancing in Michigan would ban a common second-trimester abortion procedure except to safe a women’s life.

Supporters of the bills approved 22-16 by the Senate on a party-line vote Tuesday say it would restrict the use of a “barbaric” procedure except to save a woman’s life. Opponents say the measures are unconstitutional and interfere with women’s ability to access safe medical care.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to veto the legislation, which cannot go to her desk until next week at the earliest. The House plans to approve identical bills later Tuesday.

Right to Life is preparing to launch an identical citizens’ initiative that could be enacted by lawmakers without her signature.

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5:40 a.m.

Michigan’s Republican-led Legislature is poised to vote to ban a common second-trimester abortion procedure, pushing ahead with legislation that would likely be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The bills up for votes Tuesday would prohibit physicians from performing a dilation and evacuation abortion except to save a woman’s life. The procedure, which anti-abortion advocates call “dismemberment,” was used in 1,777, or 6.7%, of abortions in Michigan in 2017.

With Whitmer expected to veto the measures if they reach her desk, Right to Life is preparing to launch an identical citizens’ initiative that could be enacted by lawmakers without her signature. Abortion-rights supporters say the legislation is unconstitutional.

Courts have blocked bans on the procedure in other states, and the issue ultimately may be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Associated Press