Gov. Whitmer announces more budget vetoes, mostly tied to curbs on abortion rights
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LANSING — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office on Monday detailed more than $20 million in line-item vetoes she plans to make to the state's main 2023 budget bill when she signs it into law Wednesday.
Most of the vetoed budget items in House Bill 5783 relate to the Department of Health and Human Services and involve restrictions on the use of state funds to pay for abortions or funding for pregnancy and parenting centers that promote alternatives to abortion. Whitmer also vetoed a $2 million tax credit for adoptive parents, a $10 million marketing program to promote adoption as an alternative to abortion, and a $100,000 legal fund in the Michigan Department of Corrections to pay for efforts to prevent the use of state funds for gender-confirmation surgery or therapies in state prisons.
The announcement drew swift criticism from Republicans. “The governor claims to be a voice for ‘choice,’ but her actions clearly support only one option for women in a crisis pregnancy — the deadly choice of abortion," said State Rep. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Monday's announcement follows Whitmer's vetoes Thursday of $6 million from the education budget. The money funded college and university pregnancy and parenting centers that would be prohibited from making abortion referrals and money for "ethical stem cell/tissue research" that would place restrictions on which stem cells and human embryos could be used.
On Wednesday, Whitmer "is expected to veto funding for centers that often purport to offer comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion, but don’t, preying on women at a vulnerable time in their lives," Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy said.
The centers, which Leddy said are sometimes known as “fake women’s health centers” or “pregnancy resource centers,” frequently “use deceptive advertising that target young women and women with low incomes who are seeking abortion care, painting themselves as comprehensive, licensed health care clinics that provide all options, and then lie to women about medical facts," Leddy said.
Whitmer "supports legislation that provides every possible resource to women who are pregnant, seeking to start a family, or those who aren’t ready yet, but she cannot support aspects of a bill that sends millions in taxpayer dollars to fake health centers that intentionally withhold information from women about their health, bodies, and full reproductive freedom," Leddy said.
The budget, approved overwhelmingly by lawmakers from both parties, was the product of negotiations and a consensus the governor reached with Republican legislative leaders. Still, none of the leaders should be surprised by any of the vetoes, Leddy said.
Gideon D'Assandro, a spokesman for House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, confirmed the vetoes are not a surprise.
More: Whitmer vetoes budget items restricting abortion access, stem cell research
More: Whitmer signs $22.2B budget for Michigan K-12 schools, colleges and universities
Albert said it is shocking that "helping pregnant women who might consider adoption instead is now a bridge too far," and the vetoes remove help for "expecting mothers and their babies, including those facing a crisis pregnancy, by denying them access to essential care both before and after giving birth."
Whitmer is using her line-item veto powers for budget bills as tensions are high between her and the Republican-controlled Legislature after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, which recognized abortion rights.
The toppling of Roe would put into effect a 1931 state law that prohibits abortions except to save the life of the mother, but a Court of Claims judge has temporarily preserved the status quo by issuing an injunction against the 1931 law. Whitmer has asked the Michigan Supreme Court to declare that the law violates the state constitution; Republicans are fighting to preserve the law.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Gov. Whitmer announces more budget vetoes, mostly abortion-related
