Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed $20 million in pro-life line items in the state’s budget that would support pregnant mothers and provide funding for adoption campaigns.
The last piece of a $76 billion state budget for the 2023 fiscal year was signed into law Wednesday.
Whitmer excluded approximately $20 million using her line-item veto for funding for pro-life causes set aside by the Republican-controlled state legislature.
Some measures included in the veto were $10 million for a marketing program promoting adoption as an alternative to abortion, a $2 million adoption tax credit, and $4 million for maternity homes expansion, reported the Washington Times.
$3 million was set aside for “organizations that promote ‘childbirth and alternatives to abortion'” and $100,000 was designated for “the legal defense of a ban on gender reassignment surgeries or therapies while people are in state prisons,” according to Fox News.
“While politicians in other states rush to ban abortion, even in instances of rape or incest, Michigan must remain a place where a woman’s ability to make her own medical decisions with her trusted health care provider is respected,” said Bobby Leddy, a spokesman for the governor.
Leddy said the governor “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”.
He claimed crisis pregnancy centers “often 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”.
Rep. Thomas Albert, a Republican from Lowell who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said “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”.
“It is shocking that the governor, and her far left political base, are now so extreme that helping pregnant women who might consider adoption instead is now a bridge too far,” he added.
The budget signed by Whitmer primarily focuses on investments in the workforce, economy, public health and public safety.