Michigan Governor Whitmer urges state legislature to abolish 90-year-old abortion law

In the wake of Texas passing the Texas Heartbeat Act, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is urging the state legislature to repeal a nearly century old state law that criminalizes abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned in the Supreme Court.

The state law reportedly dates back to 1931, according to The Hill. The law has not been enforced since the 1973 Supreme Court decision.

Whitmer voiced her support state Senator Erika Geiss's bill that would end the 1931 law, and called upon state lawmakers to bring it to her desk.

"Repealing the law would ensure that the right to choose, which is supported by a significant majority of Michiganders, remains a right in Michigan, even in the face of continued, relentless attacks on Roe v. Wade," she said.

Whitmer urged the repealing of this law to allow women's access to abortion after the Supreme Court decided not to block Texas' abortion law, prompting panic from abortion rights activists.

"If the court's decision in the Texas case is any indication, a majority of justices are willing to throw out the constitutional right to choose that has been in place for 48 years and repeatedly upheld for decades," the governor said in a press release, adding that Texas' law is “a gross violation of the constitutional right to choose.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights has predicted that Michigan state legislators "will likely try to prohibit abortion" is Roe v. Wade is "weakened" or "overturned."

"If Roe v. Wade is limited or overturned, it is likely that Michigan will attempt to enforce its pre-Roe ban, prohibiting abortion with only a life-endangerment exception," the center said.

The Texas law, which went into effect on September 1, has gained widespread backlash across the country from activists, corporations, the Biden Administration, and even The Satanic Temple.

The Portland City Council in Oregon is set to vote this week on whether or not to ban travel and trade with Texas over the law.

President Joe Biden has voiced his support for Roe v. Wade, slamming the "vigilante system" the Texas law created, regarding the ability for civilian lawsuits to be filed against those that aid in a woman getting an abortion.