Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Defends Abortion During Coronavirus as “Life Sustaining”

Michigan will not ban abortion during the coronavirus pandemic because it is “life sustaining,” according to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich.

“We stopped elective surgeries here in Michigan, and some people have tried to say that that type of a procedure is considered the same, and that’s ridiculous,” Gov. Whitmer told David Axelrod, a former political advisor to President Barack Obama.

“A woman’s health care, her whole future, her ability to decide if and when she starts a family is not an election, it is fundamental to her life. It is life-sustaining, and it’s something that government should not be getting in the middle of,” she stated.

Gov. Whitmer made the comments on Axelrod’s podcast on April 16.

Pro-life advocate Lila Rose responded to Gov. Whitmer’s comments via Twitter, writing, “Sickening. Those who argue that killing an innocent child is ‘life sustaining’ should be nowhere near the levers of power in any community, state or nation.”

Gov. Whitmer’s comments defending abortion comes at a time when several states have moved to temporarily block abortion services as non-essential during the pandemic. Planned Parenthood and other abortion advocates have fought back against these bans by taking legal action against the states.

On March 22, Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Tx., postponed all surgical abortions in his state after deeming it not “immediately necessary.” After over a dozen legal maneuvers back and forth between the state of Texas and abortion providers, The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ultimately allowed some medication abortions, and surgical abortions if they are performed near Texas’ 22-week limit, to continue during the pandemic.

Allowing abortions to continue during the pandemic is not the only thing Gov. Whitmer has recently received criticism for. Earlier this week, The Daily Citizen reported on the massive protests at the Michigan state Capital due to restrictions that Gov. Whitmer placed on travel. The new restrictions prohibited people from travelling to a second home they may have and were widely viewed as excessive, leading to the protests at the Capital called “Operation Gridlock.”

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