It’s 10 years to the day since Governor Gretchen Whitmer, as Senate Minority Leader, made a speech to stop Senate Republicans from passing a health insurance restriction that would require individuals to purchase a separate insurance rider. Whitmer and other critics called it “rape insurance”.
“I stepped up to the podium and put aside my prepared remarks and shared the story that I had only told a handful of people,” Whitmer said at a Capitol news conference on Monday. “I talked about the time I was raped when I was in college.”
And while it was a low moment for Whitmer, who said she felt despondent knowing she hadn’t changed anyone’s mind – and that she would have to call her father to warn him about what would be in the papers – she said she knew the fight wasn’t over.
On Monday, Whitmer signed the final piece of the Reproductive Health Act, House Bill 4949, which, among other things, repeals the health insurance restrictions. The package includes a full repeal of some Targeted Regulations of Abortion Providers, commonly known as TRAP laws.
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, Whitmer said the fight to save reproductive freedom has been in overdrive. Since then, there have been several victories in this fight in Michigan and other states.
In November 2022, voters approved Proposal 3, which codified the right to abortion in Michigan’s constitution. In April, Whitmer signed into law a repeal of Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban.
And although Whitmer said her sexual assault in college didn’t result in a pregnancy, the idea that someone else could be in her position didn’t sit well with her.
“The moral of this story is don’t stop fighting for what you know is right,” Whitmer said. “There’s also a warning in the story, [to] anyone who wants to roll back our rights: Don’t mess with American women; we’re tough and we’ll fight back and we’ll win. You come for our rights, and we will work harder to protect them.
Whitmer added that while it meant a lot to repeal a law she had fought against for so long, today was not about her, but about every woman in Michigan.
The stories of survivors are valuable, but it shouldn’t take women revealing the painful events of their past to make progress, said bill sponsor Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) at the press conference. She said she regretted giving a speech similar to Whitmer’s in her first term, recounting her own rape and subsequent pregnancy scare.
“I actually wish I had never given that speech. Not because it was personally painful, which it was, but because it made the wrong point. Trauma is not a prerequisite for bodily autonomy. Everyone’s reason for having an abortion is personal and valid, and everyone deserves the ability to make their own decisions about their pregnancy,” Pohutsky said. “I long for the day when female elected officials do not have to open their wounds on the floor of the House to appeal to the humanity of our colleagues.”
