LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Tucked away in the abortion rights law, otherwise known as the Reproductive Health Act, signed last year by Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, was something that has been overlooked by many in the state – language that allows Michigan lawmakers to roll back mandatory abortion reporting. The new law reversed a previous 1978 law requiring abortion providers to send the state detailed information on abortions that they have performed.

Reproductive Health Act repealed law for providers to report abortion information.

According to a recent report by Bridge Michigan, providers are no longer required to submit annual abortion information about their patients to the state. When the abortion rights laws were passed at the end of last year, they repealed MCL 333.2835 which has required abortion providers to give detailed abortion information to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) for the past 45 years.

State had previously received and reported abortion data for more than four decades.

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Since 1982, Michigan has been compiling comprehensive reports on the roughly 30,000 abortion procedures conducted annually (about 1.3 million total), documenting details such as the gestational age of the fetus, as well as the age, marital status, and race of the patients. Other information reported included if the patients have had a previous abortion and if they are married.

However, the state will no longer receive that information because the Reproductive Health Act went into effect in February of this year. After submitting data for 2023 later this year, Michiganders will no longer have access to information on the number of abortions performed by providers in the state or any related data on demographic or health issues.

46 other states have abortion reporting laws.

According to Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights research organization, Michigan is now one of only a handful of states that won’t have any kind of abortion reporting.

That sentiment is echoed by Genevieve Marnon, Legislative Director of Right to Life of Michigan, who tells Michigan News Source, “As of 2023, 46 states had abortion reporting laws which the CDC relies upon for their vital statistics reporting. Guttmacher, the reporting arm for the abortion industry, generally surveys abortion clinics to try to come up with crude abortion numbers, and the CDC uses state reporting numbers for its annual reporting on the numbers; but, Guttmacher is only based on surveys, and the CDC only has access to states with state reporting laws making neither one 100% accurate. Michigan will now be one of a handful of states that do not have official abortion numbers and thus not included in the totals put out by the CDC each year.”

Democrats appear to have “secretly” slipped abortion data repeal into new law.

The repeal of the abortion reporting requirement, tucked away in the law and not touted by the Democratic Party or the governor in a press release, has sparked debate among both sides of the issue. On one side of the argument are the staunch defenders of quality assurance, led by Dr. Catherine Stark, a licensed physician and board certified in obstetrics and gynecology who has practiced in Michigan for more than 25 years.

Critics of repeal say the information is needed for health monitoring.

Stark argues that such data is vital for monitoring the safety and efficacy of abortion procedures. Critics contend that the move not only jeopardizes patient safety but also undermines the very foundation of public health surveillance.

Supporters of repeal say reporting requirement was intrusive and “burdensome.”

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On the opposing side are those who see the reporting requirement as nothing more than an intrusive relic of a bygone era. They argue that it’s high time Michigan joined the ranks of states that don’t feel the need to collect such intimate details about their citizens’ personal lives. That includes Lynn Sutfin, spokesperson for the MDHHS, who calls the requirements for the doctors “burdensome” with “no basis in medicine” that were “designed to dissuade women from accessing the care they needed.”

Dr. Sarah Wallett, chief medical operating officer of Planned Parenthood of Michigan, told Bridge Michigan, “The reporting of private demographic data does not make abortion any safer than it already is, and instead may have a chilling effect for our patients.”

Michigan to lose track of all in-state and out-of-state abortion data.

Lost in the discussion is the fact that Michigan has become an abortion tourism state – a sanctuary for residents from neighboring states where abortion access is difficult and rare. With Michigan now playing host to a steady stream of out-of-state abortion seekers (there was a 66% increase in out-of- state abortion seekers in 2022), the lack of reporting means we may never know just how many folks are crossing state lines in search of reproductive freedom – or how many Michiganders are seeking abortions either.

Right to Life of Michigan responds.

Marnon says about the change in abortion reporting, “The abortion reporting law was passed in 1978 with broad bi-partisan support and remained in effect for decades providing information for women seeking abortion as well as basic data to inform public policy. Like all other forms of vital statistics, the abortion reports provided valuable information to women who might ultimately seek an abortion and policy makers and healthcare professionals in their efforts to ensure the safe administration of medical procedures.”

She goes on to say, “The reporting law, like every reporting mechanism related to healthcare, is ultimately designed to ensure safety and positive outcomes for the patient. As we know, women are savvy. They look for data as they seek to make decisions, particularly decisions related to healthcare. Transparency about the complications for each type of abortion procedure, whether they are high or low, how many abortions are performed in any given year in the state, the typical age of a woman undergoing an abortion, etc., all inform a woman’s choice about the relative safety of the procedure.”

Marnon concludes, “The removal of the reporting requirement at the same time health and safety regulations for abortion clinics were removed should be of concern to any woman who walks into an abortion facility. Unfortunately, women who do ultimately decide to have an abortion are less safe and have less information available to them than they did just a year ago.”