(WXYZ) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republican challenger Tudor Dixon arrived at Oakland University on Tuesday night for the final Michigan gubernatorial debate before the Michigan general election.
One of the first topics out of the gate was the issue of abortion in the state of Michigan.
Michigan is one of several states that will have abortion rights on the ballot this year for voters after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its Roe v. Wade decision.
Proposal 3 would create a law in the Michigan Constitution that would protect reproductive rights, including the right to abortion. It would also invalidate a 1931 law that is currently on the books banning abortion in Michigan.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Michigan's 1931 law would've taken effect but a judge issued a temporary stay on it while lawsuits challenging the law go through the court system.
The first question was to Whitmer. It was if Proposal 3 passed, how would she legislate if portions of that proposal have to work their way through the courts.
“Prop 3 is absolutely necessary to preserve the rights we’ve had for 49 years under Roe v. Wade,” said Whitmer.
She continued, “We have an opportunity to enshrine Roe into law by supporting ballot initiative 3 … parental rights and consent will still be effective, we know that regulations will still be in effect. The simple truth is the way to protect women and ensure that future generations have the same rights we’ve had for 49 years is by adopting Proposal 3.”
Dixon responded by saying Whitmer is being dishonest in her take on Proposal 3.
“We know that Proposal 3 does remove parental consent. It also makes it so you don’t have to be a doctor to perform an abortion. But it does align with her agenda, her past — she’s voted against a ban on partial birth abortion, and Proposal 3 allows abortion up to the moment of birth for any reason, including sex selection. There will be no legislating around Proposal 3, because it will be language in the constitution, so we can’t put those protections that we’ve had in place back in place … that we’ve had in place for all of these years. So when Governor Whitmer tells you that this is going to be Roe, it’s not even close to Roe, it’s not codifying Roe in our constitution but it would be the most radical abortion law in the entire country. The only place that has something similar are China and North Korea,” she said.
Whitmer rebutted, saying in part, “None of what she just said is true.”
Dixon closed out the question, saying in part, “the people will decide what they want to do on abortion rights in the state of Michigan. “
Watch the full responses in the video player above.
