State rep. reintroduces bill to ban abortion after heartbeat detected

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - A Republican state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would make it a felony for a doctor to pass an abortion after a heartbeat is detected.

State Representative Steve Carra, (R), Three Rivers, introduced a heartbeat bill in the State House Tuesday. The bill is identical to one from 2019 that didn’t make it out of committee.

“The heartbeat bill gets us inches away from our ultimate goal of protecting life from the moment of conception,” said Rep. Carra.

“Unfortunately, they are willing to endanger the health of tens of thousands of people in Michigan in order to prove a point,” said Angela Vasquez-Giroux with Planned Parenthood of Michigan.

Under this bill, a doctor who performs an abortion could spend two to four years behind bars or six to 15 years if the woman dies.

Rep. Carra is running for Congress next year.

He admits the bill faces an uphill battle. He expects Governor Gretchen Whitmer would veto the legislation if it got to her desk.

“If she vetoes it this term, well then next term when we have a pro-life governor, somebody who respects life in the womb, we’ll be in a better position to get it done next term,” said Rep. Carra.

“That doesn’t stop it from being troublesome and upsetting because of what it says about the leaders that we have here and what they’re willing to do in order to advance their careers or score political points,” said Vasquez-Giroux.

State laws like the one proposed in Michigan are likely to face legal challenges.

On December 1, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a Mississippi case to have Roe v. Wade overturned.

Cooley Law School professor Michael McDaniel says the decision could have an impact on states that are trying to pass abortion laws.

“They will have to await the determination of the Supreme Court on the case that we talked about from Jackson, Mississippi, where oral arguments will be heard December 1, and we’ll probably get an opinion next June,” said McDaniel.

On Monday, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block Texas’s abortion law which bans abortions after six weeks.

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