Michigan Halts Abortion Funding

DETROIT — State-paid abortions for welfare recipients were banned in Michigan for the first time in 14 years on Wednesday, after the anti-abortion movement surprised its foes by using an obscure loophole in the Michigan constitution to circumvent a certain veto of the funding prohibition by Gov. James J. Blanchard.

The ban on Medicaid funding for abortions in Michigan represents one of the few recent state-level victories for the anti-abortion movement, which lost abortion-related referendums in four states last fall. Indeed, many observers have pointed to those losses--including one in conservative Arkansas--as evidence that public support for abortion is greater than ever.

But the anti-abortion forces scored a dramatic victory here after suffering a long string of narrow defeats since the early 1970s.

“It’s a great day--July 1 is a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life as the first day we’ve not allowed abortions to be paid for with state or federal funds,” said State Sen. Jack Wilborn, a Republican and leader of the anti-abortion campaign in the Michigan Legislature. Federal funding for abortions has been banned since the mid-’70s.

First Modern Use

The anti-abortion forces won by using a little-known clause in the Michigan constitution that allows the public to initiate veto-proof legislation through petition drives. If a petition-sponsored bill is later approved by the state Senate and state House, the governor cannot reject it through a veto. Attorneys involved in the case said they did not believe the constitutional loophole around vetoes had ever been used in Michigan’s modern history.

Late Tuesday, a Michigan judge ruled that the state Legislature had the constitutional right to approve a funding ban that could not be vetoed by Blanchard, who is a strong supporter of the pro-choice movement.

Although a coalition of pro-choice groups appealed the decision Wednesday, it still went into effect immediately. Since both legislative chambers had approved the ban earlier in June after the anti-abortion movement’s petitions were validated, the Michigan Department of Social Services was forced to notify participating doctors and clinics that it was halting all payments for Medicaid abortions Wednesday morning.

The anti-abortion forces latched onto the constitutional loophole to get around the one remaining roadblock to a funding ban in the state--Blanchard. Although they had long had strong support in the Michigan Legislature, they had never been able to garner the two-thirds majority needed in both houses to override a veto. As a result, funding bans had been vetoed 17 times over the last decade, both by Blanchard and his predecessor, former Gov. William G. Milliken.

Warns of Crisis

Blanchard blasted the court’s decision Wednesday, and warned that the ban could quickly lead to a statewide crisis, as more and more poor women have children that they cannot afford.

“It’s a very sad day for poor women, and it is a sad day for the way laws are made here,” Blanchard said in a press conference. “And we’re talking about a huge new category of welfare spending as a result of what the courts are doing. I don’t think anyone has considered the social consequences of this.”

In the wake of the Michigan ruling, only 13 states now continue to provide state funding for abortions for welfare recipients, according to the Planned Parenthood Federation. Four of those states, including California, are providing the funding only under court order.

In Michigan, where the state pays for about 18,000 abortions a year for welfare recipients, at a cost of about $5.8 million, health clinic operators warned Wednesday that the funding ban could have a devastating impact on poor women, both in Detroit and elsewhere in the state.

Threatens to Steal

“It’s a hardship for all of them . . . one patient of ours was overheard saying that she would come up with the money even if she had to steal,” said B. Adam, administrator of Womancare, which operates a chain of health clinics in the Detroit area. She added that her clinics performed abortions scheduled for Wednesday free of charge for those clients who could not afford to pay.