New measures would ban abortions after a doctor detects a fetus’s heartbeat. Michigan Public Radio’s Cheyna Roth reports bills were introduced Wednesday in the state Senate.
A fetal heartbeat is usually detected at around 6 to 8 weeks. Currently, a woman can get an abortion up to around 24 weeks of gestation.
It’s one of a handful of bills introduced so far this session aimed at limiting access to abortion. And Governor Gretchen Whitmer has said that she would veto anti-choice bills that hit her desk.
Republican Senator Ed McBroom is a bill sponsor. He says he hopes Whitmer would change her mind.
“This is another attempt to validate the value of every human life.”
The bills would make it a felony for a physician to administer an abortion after a heartbeat has been detected. There is an exception if there is an emergency that puts the life of the mother is at risk.
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—Cheyna Roth is a reporter for the Michigan Public Radio network. Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
