Category: Prolife News

2025 has officially begun! As another year comes to a close and a new one begins, I like to look back on the memories that the previous year afforded. I graduated from college, moved to Grand Rapids, and became an official Michigan resident. I started working at Right to Life of Michigan, beginning a career in a movement that I care for greatly. I was blessed to become engaged to my incredible fiancé, a woman that I am beyond grateful to spend the rest of my life with. 2024 was a very important year for me, and I hope it was filled with blessings and growth for you as well!

As an organization, Right to Life of Michigan experienced an extraordinary year too! We mounted an unprecedented Get-Out-the-Vote effort, securing sweeping victories on behalf of the cause for life at the ballot box in November. We won a prolife majority in our State House and secured victory in every race for the U.S. House of Representatives in which we had endorsements, and so much more. We began our “Life. The Other Choice.” ad campaign, airing ads that increased calls to the pregnancy help hotline (1-800-712-HELP) by 14% in the first three weeks alone. We continued to expand our MiGen Leads program, directly engaging with students and young adults across Michigan. And we launched a new website and logo…all in one year!

We start 2025 with a dedication to our mission that is as strong as ever. We have much work to do in changing the hearts and minds of our communities, but we accept the challenge knowing the importance that the prolife movement has in standing shoulder to shoulder with women and protecting the unborn, elderly, disabled, and all communities targeted by abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide. We are pushing to further our educational efforts, reaching more women with the hopeful and courageous choice of life. We will continue to work with our legislators to safeguard and advance prolife legislation. Our work will not stop as we push for a greater respect for life in our state and beyond!

We ask you to recommit yourself to join with us in these important endeavors, as we cannot accomplish our goals without your help. Whether through volunteer efforts, donations, or showing your support at local events and fundraisers, please join us as we take on 2025 with our prolife mission that is as powerful as ever!

Email any questions to Danny Earl at dearl@staging.rtl.org.

My favorite time of year is always the final stretch as we grow closer to the new year. In a less than two-month span, we get to experience both Thanksgiving and the winter holiday season. As the cold weather keeps us inside and we get to curl up under a warm blanket, sip hot cocoa, and rewatch classic holiday movies that never get old, we are able to slow down the busyness of our lives and reflect on what we are thankful for.

There are many things that make this this time of year so special. There’s the nostalgia as we reminisce on past holidays with our loved ones, from hanging ornaments to going sledding after the first snowfall. There’s the spirit of giving, as we take time to buy gifts and give thanks to those who mean so much to us. And, one of my personal favorite parts of the season, there’s delicious food and drinks that bring people together at the dinner table, providing a chance to be merry and enjoy the company of those closest to you.

I invite you this season to really focus on the blessings in your life. There is so much that we take for granted, like good health, enough food to eat, or a bed to sleep in. I am often guilty of forgetting how fortunate I am to have these blessings and am grateful that this holiday season provides a reminder to reflect on these gifts. As we look at our own lives, it is important to recognize where we can help others who may not have the same blessings.

At Right to Life of Michigan, we continue to fight for those who need our assistance. From mothers seeking support during their unplanned pregnancy, to a child in the womb who is disregarded by abortion-obsessed legislators, to the disabled and elderly who are targeted by assisted suicide supporters, we seek to provide resources and support to help everyone feel that they have the means to make a choice for life. If you would like to read more about our plans to continue spreading the message of life, please check out our End of Year Match blog here.

We take time at the end of this year to reflect on what we are thankful for, including our incredible volunteers, the countless prayers for our organization, and the generosity of our donors and supporters. We thank you for your continued commitment to life and recognize that none of the victories we experienced this year, whether at the polls or changing hearts and minds, could have happened without your support. May God bless you, and have a very happy holiday season!

Email any questions to Danny Earl at dearl@staging.rtl.org.

Donate Now, During Our End of Year Match. Support Women in… Life. The Other Choice.

Michigan has been ground zero for proabortion activists and politicians. As you know, a woman in Michigan who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant can have an abortion at any point in her pregnancy for any reason as a result of Proposal 3 passing in 2022.

But, for choice to truly exist, women must have every opportunity to make a hopeful, courageous choice for life!

To that end, we have much work to do in the year ahead!

At Right to Life of Michigan, we’ve already engaged in a two-phase campaign airing our new ads, “Life. The Other Choice.” You can view a few of these ads at staging.rtl.org/videos. These compelling ads are intended to reach women and invite a choice for life. Many of the ads end with a hotline to call or text (1-800-712-HELP) to be connected with a local Pregnancy Resource Center. And, in the first few weeks alone of airing the ads, calls to the hotline went up 14% in Michigan! Women reached. Lives saved!

In the year ahead, we must take this educational effort to the next level, reaching deeper into our communities with our life-saving message, but we can only do this with your help!

With your support, we will:

• Relaunch these compelling ads in the new year, reaching more women and saving more lives!,
• Develop new educational materials to reach women with the facts about abortions and options that exist, particularly as the state no longer requires women to be given information before having an abortion,
• Expand our reach to colleges, universities, and high schools, now a hotbed of proabortion propaganda, and
• Invest more in our digital efforts to reach people exactly where they are, online.

All of this takes money, which is why we are reaching out today!

As you consider what gifts to give your loved ones at this most wonderful time of year, we ask that you consider a sacrificial gift to us to promote life across your community and save lives, one woman at a time.

Until the end of the year, we will be matching 100% of your tax-deductible donation to honor your commitment to life at this critical time.

Our goal is to raise $120,000 by the end of the year to enable us to launch the next phase of our educational efforts. Please consider a donation today!

When I turned 18 in 2020, the last presidential election year, I felt as though I didn’t need to vote. I was at college and would have to send in an absentee ballot, something I knew nothing about. I figured there are millions of other Americans, who cares if I don’t add just one more vote to the pool? I only voted in the 2020 election because my parents pushed me to do so. No matter which party I was voting for, I felt that my vote did not hold much of an impact in the state I grew up in, so I sent in my absentee ballot just to get it over with.

Today, I look back at that attitude and shake my head, knowing I could not have been more wrong. I now know that every single vote matters! By seeing the impact that one election can have on our state and country, I have come to recognize that it is not only a privilege but a civic duty for us to vote in America. Casting a ballot to elect officials you believe will defend your rights and values is so incredibly important, as it is a right that many brave men and women have fought hard to defend. And as my eighth-grade teacher once told me, you can’t complain about the election results if you didn’t vote (not sure why that was a topic of discussion at 14 years old, but it sure has stuck with me!)

There can sometimes be some tension when you share that you are a prolife voter. I have had people I consider to be friends stop talking to me simply because I voted for a candidate that I believed would do a better job of protecting the unborn. While I’m sure many of you have experienced a similar situation while defending life, we cannot let the opinions of others deter us from doing what we know to be right. Women, children, and the most vulnerable are counting on us.

The “right” to abortion is now in our state constitution due to the passing of Proposal 3 in 2022. Because of this, abortion access is not on the ballot this year, despite what pro-abortion advocates have been telling us.

It is still essential that we get prolife legislators in office as we fight to protect parental consent laws and to prevent tax dollars from paying for abortions. Since the passing of Proposal 3, we have seen the careless discarding of so many commonsense abortion laws. Abortion clinics have been stripped of health and safety regulations, reporting abortion statistics is no longer mandatory (horribly irresponsible as 2023 saw a 38% spike in serious complications from abortions, a number that may continue to grow unwatched), and there is currently a preliminary injunction blocking the 24-hour waiting period and informed consent laws.

You and I both know that these moves were not done to “protect women’s rights” as pro-abortion legislators claim. If that were true, women would have less risks when getting an abortion, not more! We NEED to take back the State House with a prolife majority so we can end this abortion-obsessed agenda and let women know that there is another choice: life!

With early in-person voting having already started here in Michigan, and Election Day right around the corner, I encourage you to go vote. The prolife movement needs votes now more than ever. I encourage you to be proud of your prolife stance. Do not shy away from it just because it may seem like an uphill battle. When we take our foot off the gas and ease up on our prolife advocacy, that is when we lose elections. All it takes is an election like this one to turn the ship around and start heading towards being a state that women and their children are safe and supported. Vote, vote, VOTE!

Email any questions to Danny Earl at dearl@staging.rtl.org.

Many college programs require an internship to graduate. It is up to the student to decide if they will just take the first job that they are offered so that they can fulfill their credits, or if they want to find an opportunity that could lead to a future career.

In my last semester of college, as I looked to find the right internship, I realized that I wanted a job that helped others in need; something I hoped could translate into a career. I shared this with a friend of mine, and he told me that his mom was looking for an intern at the pregnancy resource center (PRC) that she manages.

I felt that this could be a great opportunity to see if a prolife job after college was right for me. I got the internship and was excited to work for an organization that supports pregnant women and their children. I had heard of the services provided by PRCs, but I had never actually seen how they operate. I began in January of 2024 as a marketing intern and learned more than I could have imagined about the kindness and compassion that the prolife movement offers.

Through my internship, I found a strong desire to work for a prolife organization. The PRC I worked with consistently provides women with free medical services, pregnancy testing, and baby materials, showing them that they are not alone in their pregnancy. I realized that working for an organization that works tirelessly to support mothers and their children was something I would love to do, leading to me applying to Right to Life of Michigan when my internship ended.

PRCs and Right to Life of Michigan (RLM) work to encourage and provide for women who feel like they are alone in their pregnancies. Many women have reported that they felt coercion to abort from their partner, family, friends, or community. While passing no judgement or condemnation, RLM hopes to provide them with resources and support should they choose life for their child. While abortion is now legal in Michigan, we believe every pregnant woman should feel like she can choose life for her baby and be supported financially and emotionally in her decision.

To let women know that life is an available and realistic choice for them, RLM has created advertisements that end in a pregnancy hotline for women to call. The hotline will direct them to their local PRC where they can receive confidential counseling, medical assistance as needed, baby materials and more. You can find a couple of these ads on our YouTube channel here: youtube.com/@rtlmich. They are also now running in the digital space to reach women right where they are.

Providing information, resources, and a listening, compassionate ear is essential to letting women with an unexpected pregnancy know that there are people who are ready to give them copious amount of support through and after their pregnancy

The fight for life is not a violent one. It Is one that requires compassion, warmth, and gentleness. RLM continuously strives to encourage women and help them through a difficult time that few can fully imagine. But, just because an unexpected pregnancy can be difficult, it does not mean that it has to be gone through alone. To truly stand for the prolife cause, we must recognize the need to support women so that they may feel empowered to make the choice for life.

Michigan alone has over 100 pregnancy resource centers, which can be found here: staging.rtl.org/find-help.

There is a help hotline if you or someone you know is dealing with an unexpected pregnancy and want to get in touch with a PRC near you: 1 (800) 712-HELP

Email any questions to Danny Earl at dearl@staging.rtl.org.

Right to Life of Michigan joins with supporters across our state in celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month! This celebration, which extends from September 15 to October 15, honors the extraordinary contributions of the Hispanic community and its beautiful heritage and traditions. At RLM, we are particularly thankful for the Hispanic community’s leadership on life issues and shoulder-to-shoulder partnership in advocating the cause for life.

During National Hispanic Heritage Month, we took the opportunity to highlight some amazing people who have contributed to Right to Life of Michigan’s work within the Hispanic community. Tune in to our LifeBeat podcast where we interviewed Doris Perez, a member of our Hispanic Outreach Committee and singer/songwriter. We also interviewed Ricardo Hernandez, a youth and young adult leader in churches in the Detroit area. Ricardo’s interview will be airing on October 4, so don’t miss it!

We also have our annual Vida Preciosa Benefit Dinner on November 8. We are excited to welcome Nicole LeBlanc as our keynote speaker. The event will be held at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit and is sure to be a great celebration of Hispanic life. Click here to register.

Finally, our new website refresh includes a Spanish language option. Please check it out here.

By Amber Roseboom, Right to Life of Michigan President. This is an article from the 2024 RLM News Fall edition.

There is no question that we are in a unique moment in American politics as much of the political debate centers on life issues. Gone are the days of Bill Clinton’s “safe, legal and rare.” Today’s proabortion movement – candidates, electeds, activists and providers alike – have dispensed with the past in favor of using women and fully unregulated abortion as a crass means to an end: absolute power through hoped for electoral gains at all costs. Desperate to mobilize their weary base, the national Democratic Party is making abortion the tip of the spear in their case to the American public. Michigan’s Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, said the quiet part out loud when she told Politico, “The challenge and opportunity is to link reproductive freedom to economic and political freedom.”

For Americans who wonder what is at stake, they need look no further than Michigan, ground zero for abortion politics.

1) Attempting to mobilize voters with a lie about threats to abortion access.

In Michigan, one of three must-win target states in this year’s presidential election (Wisconsin and Pennsylvania being the others), Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Vice President Kamala Harris and a slew of campaign surrogates are peddling the fantasy that “reproductive freedoms” are at stake. The problem, of course, is this claim has zero basis in reality. A woman in Michigan can access abortion at any point in her pregnancy for any reason, as a result of Proposal 3 passing in 2022. Beyond that, IVF is not, nor has it ever been at risk in Michigan, nor has contraception. These are the simple facts.

2) Compromising women’s health through the large-scale deregulation of the abortion industry. Abortion[1]obsessed politicians target safeguards around abortion with a wrecking ball.

In Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan, women are at far greater risk of harm when they enter an abortion clinic today than they were even a couple of years ago. Abortion clinic health and safety regulations are gone. Women no longer need to be provided basic medical facts about an abortion before having one. Non-physicians are now able to perform abortions. Simultaneously, the 2023 abortion statistics recently released by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services show serious complications from abortion spiking, up 38% in just one year. Partial-birth abortion is legalized. And the ACLU of Michigan brought a lawsuit to force taxpayers in Michigan to pay for abortions through Medicaid funding.

Now, Governor Whitmer has her sights set on further chipping away at parental rights, intent on overturning parental consent for a minor girl seeking an abortion. Currently, a minor girl seeking an abortion must receive her parent’s consent or seek a judicial bypass before obtaining an abortion. Proabortion politicians are unfazed by the fact that parental consent enjoys the support of 68% of voters.

3) Responding with compassion. The prolife movement in Michigan is shaping the path forward. We know a woman can choose abortion for any reason, but for CHOICE to truly exist, women must have every opportunity to make a hopeful, courageous choice for life.

Right to Life of Michigan’s more than 80 affiliates and thousands of volunteers are energized for the days ahead, committed to changing hearts and minds so women have every opportunity to make a choice for life. We have launched a new campaign, “Life. The Other Choice.,” that includes multi-media ads with an invitation to call or text a hotline (1-800-712-HELP) that connects a woman with the Pregnancy Resource Center closest to her. (Michigan has 100 Pregnancy Resource Centers across the state.)

Our Political Action Committee is in full swing with more than 200 prolife endorsed candidates in the state and an aggressive Get-Out-the-Vote effort underway on their behalf. This year, we must be laser-focused on electing candidates who stand for common-sense protections for women and children, including the unborn, protections like parental consent and expanded prenatal and post-natal care.

There is no question the prolife movement faces challenges today, but they are not unlike the challenges of the past. Despite the loud noise of the abortion lobby, a much bigger narrative is unfolding. With Roe overturned, the prolife movement has the opportunity to take its case to the American people, not with force or judgment but with a compelling invitation to choose life and the practical support to do it. This really is our time. Let’s take it!

If you’re interested in volunteering to help elect prolife candidates or serve in some other capacity, please email us at info@staging.rtl.org.

God bless!

(Get to know Danny Earl, RLM’s Content Contributor and Event Coordinator. This is the first monthly blog from Danny.  The first Friday of each month, he will post a new blog, so stay tuned. We hope you enjoy Danny’s Desk!)

“Most women ‘choose’ abortion precisely because they believe they have no other choice.” — Serrin M. Foster

I have always felt a strong call to the prolife movement and the fight against abortion and euthanasia. Growing up, my faith and morals led me to recognize the intrinsic and irreplicable value that each human life has. From the moment of conception to natural death, all life is to be respected and cared for, no matter how different that life is from our own. When it came time for me to graduate college and I began to apply for jobs, I was excited to find an opening at Right to Life of Michigan and felt that it could be an opportunity to make a change for an extremely important cause. When I got the job, however, a part of me became fearful of what others might think of me.

At my time in college, I met many people who were pro-abortion. How would they respond when they asked where I would be working after school and I told them it was a prolife organization? I even feared that my prolife friends and family might think of this as a risky move. I received a bachelor’s degree in public relations; should I just find a PR job at a different company and not have to worry about what others think? Would my fiancé be placed in an uncomfortable situation when people ask her what her future husband does for work? All these questions made me hesitate and really contemplate the pros and cons of working in the profile movement.

After much deliberation and prayer, I realized that shying away from this opportunity due to the expectations of others would be a grave mistake. To place the fear of public rejection over the chance to make a real impact would leave the unborn without my voice. While my voice may not be the loudest or most far-reaching, the collective call to change becomes more powerful as new voices join in. Walking away would mean I had the chance to make a change and chose not to.

So, I started working at Right to Life of Michigan, and have been rewarded with an opportunity to help those in need. And, sure, not everyone I know is thrilled to hear about my line of work, but the amount of support from the prolife movement and the feeling of doing something good far outweighs the voice of the opposition.

I encourage you to look at the opportunities in your life that public perception has made you hesitant to act on, especially within the prolife movement. You may have wanted to attend a local rally but were worried about harassment from abortion advocates. You may have wanted to wear a shirt that supports the unborn but didn’t want to receive any dirty looks from strangers. If everyone were to shy away from what makes the other side of the aisle “uncomfortable,” we would never have made the progress that we’ve seen today. Prolife marches across the United States would have never been organized. Prolife legislation would never have been introduced. Roe v. Wade would not have been overturned.

While joining the prolife movement may seem like fighting an uphill battle at some points, it is an uphill battle that is essential to saving lives. To give up would allow an extensive pro-abortion agenda to become commonplace in the United States. We must never allow ourselves to shy away from an important cause just because it isn’t popular with those around us.

For those hoping to make an impact in the prolife movement, myself included, we must focus heavily on those being directly affected by pro-abortion legislation. Women today are told that abortion is an empowering and freeing decision. The statistics show that many women undergoing abortion are coerced into having one, feeling as though they were given no other option, and they face long term stress and regret from their decision. It is so very important that we let pregnant women know that there IS another option, the beautiful choice for life. Joining the prolife movement is a chance to let pregnant women, who may feel alone or scared, know that there is a supportive community ready to care for her during and after her pregnancy.

Attend that rally. Donate to a prolife organization, namely Right to Life of Michigan. Share that prolife Facebook post. Do not be afraid to do what’s right and supportive of pregnant women. Lives are at risk, so every action matters.

Email any questions to Danny Earl at dearl@staging.rtl.org.

“These grants demonstrate our ongoing commitment to women facing unplanned pregnancies in Detroit and the surrounding region…” said Amber Roseboom, President, Right to Life of Michigan

Today, September 5, Right to Life of Michigan (RLM) is delivering grants totaling more than $10,000 to seven pregnancy resource centers in and around Detroit as part of our seventh annual Pregnancy Resource Center Fall Grant tour. These grants will be used for a variety of resources such as upgraded medical equipment, building repairs and improvements and upgrades to an ICU Birth Choice mobile unit. More broadly, the funds will help provide emergency housing assistance, transportation, and an abundance of diapers, formula, car seats, pack ‘n plays and more to women facing unplanned pregnancies.

“These grants demonstrate our ongoing commitment to women facing unplanned pregnancies in Detroit and the surrounding region. In Michigan, a woman can have an abortion at any point in her pregnancy for any reason. But, for choice to truly exist, women must have every opportunity to make a courageous, hopeful choice for life. These pregnancy centers and the incredible medical staff, counselors, and volunteers who are the compassionate engine driving their extraordinary successes are making all the difference, enabling women to make a choice for life,” said Amber Roseboom, President, Right to Life of Michigan.

“Care Net is very grateful for the individuals, churches and organizations like Right to Life of Michigan who help make our work possible,” said Valerie Mayer, Executive Director, Care Net.

Each year, RLM offers grants to Pregnancy Resource Centers in and around the city of Detroit. Earlier this year, RLM expanded its support of pregnant women across the region by co-hosting, with The Reconciled Church, the first annual Motor City Baby Shower in Clark Park. More than 100 women and families participated in the event which offered much needed items, such as car seats, baby swings, strollers, clothing and more.

PRCs in the Detroit region interested in applying for the Fall 2025 grants should email Tina Teifer, Director of Multicultural Outreach, at tteifer@staging.rtl.org.

On Monday, August 26, we celebrate Women’s Equality Day, marking the anniversary of the signing of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which gave women the right to vote. Right to Life of Michigan honors the incredible and important contributions that women have made to our world. From scientific breakthroughs like Katherine Johnson’s calculations that allowed us to walk on the moon, to everyday miracle workers like the women who make up almost 80% of elementary school teachers, our world would not be the same without the amazing contributions of women.

An extraordinary gift to and from women is the ability to bring life into this world. We continue to strive for a day in which every woman who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant feels the support and compassion she needs to make hopeful, courageous choice for life.

Women’s Equality Day invites us to rethink what choice means for women. For choice to truly exist, women must have every opportunity to make a choice for life if they would like to do so.

To ensure that women are completely supported and empowered to make a choice for life, there are more than 100 Pregnancy Resource Centers in communities across Michigan that are willing and ready to serve women and their families.

If you’re pregnant and need help, call or text 1-800-712-HELP. Support exists. Find confidential counseling, free medical care and material support in your community.

Learn more at staging.rtl.org. Get help at Optionline.org.

This Friday, July 26, marks National Disability Independence Day, an important commemoration of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act which aims to prevent the discrimination of individuals with disabilities in areas such as employment and public accommodations. While this was an important step forward, much work still needs to be done to ensure individuals with disabilities have access to quality healthcare and more. Not only that, threats continue to emerge, particularly the dangers posed to the disability community by bills in the State Senate that would legalize physician-assisted suicide. (We continue to work to defeat those bills.)

At Right to Life of Michigan, we stand alongside those with disabilities in the important battles ahead. And, today, we make a special point of celebrating the courage, joy and love shared and fostered by individuals, many of them loved ones, who experience a disability. In fact, several studies have shown that many within the disabled community report a higher quality of life than able-bodied people. They push through physical and mental restrictions, showing a tenacious drive to overcome obstacles, not letting their disability prevent them from achieving their goals.

May we continue to live out the truth that each and every life is fully worthy of love, respect and compassion.

The latest abortion report compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is very significant, both because of the worrisome spike in serious complications from abortion (up 38% in just one year) and because it is the last abortion report in our state. Click here to read the full report.

Because of Proposal 3 and subsequent laws our governor and radical proabortion legislators ushered in over the last year, Michigan abortion facilities are no longer required to report statistics. Indeed, they are now unregulated and unlicensed. The substantial increase in abortion complications represented below in conjunction with proabortion elected officials simultaneously removing clinic health and safety standards and a judge halting enforcement of informed consent for a woman seeking an abortion illustrates the increased dangers women face. There is no question women who seek an abortion now are at far greater risk than they have been in recent years.

There is no justification for removing abortion reporting, since no woman’s privacy has ever been invaded in 40+ years of abortion reports in Michigan. Yet, moving forward, abortion will become a black box in the state of Michigan.

#1: Abortions increased in Michigan 

There were 31,241 reported induced abortions in Michigan in 2023. That’s a 4% increase from 2022.

More abortions have happened every year since Governor Whitmer took office, increasing 17% since 2018.

#2: Michigan’s increase came from residents, not women from other states

Abortions on Michigan residents accounted for 100% of the increase in 2023.

For the first time ever, MDHHS included statistics on location for out-of-state women traveling to Michigan for abortions. As expected, Ohio (1,532) and Indiana (695) were the top states, with the top five also including Texas (138), Georgia (67), and Wisconsin (63).

#3: Michigan abortions are increasing outside Metro Detroit

Most abortions are still performed on women living in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties, accounting for 56% of abortions in 2023. However, it’s other counties in Michigan that led to this year’s increase.

Abortions in the three Metro Detroit counties increased by only 1%. Abortions in other counties with more than 100,000 residents increased by 8%. Though the Upper Peninsula represents a relatively small number of abortions in the state, abortions there increased by 21%.

Isabella County was the only county with more than 100 reported abortions in 2022 to see a decrease.

The abortion increase in rural and medium-sized counties is likely helped by expanded use of the abortion pill, which can be sent through the mail with no examination by a doctor. 55% of abortions in the state are now done with abortion pills. Most abortion facilities in Michigan are still located along or south of I-96.

#4: Michigan is seeing the highest abortion rates since tax-funded abortions

When Michigan voters ended the use of tax dollars to pay for abortions in 1988, there was a large decrease. In fact, if you project the decrease in 1989 forward to 2023, there are 278,000 people alive today because of that single policy.

However, for a variety of reasons, including economic conditions and the pro-abortion policies of the Whitmer Administration, the long-term abortion decline in Michigan has reversed. In 2023, the abortion ratio and rate on Michigan residents were the second highest since 1988.

The abortion rate was 15.0, meaning 15 of every 1,000 women of reproductive age in Michigan had abortions in 2023. The abortion ratio was 271.3, meaning for every 1,000 live births in Michigan, there were 271 abortions. One in every five pregnancies in Michigan ends with an abortion. These numbers are slightly above national averages.

#5: Abortion complications are increasing

Since 2018, serious medical complications from abortion have increased dramatically. In 2017, there were 15 reported serious complications. By 2022, that number was 178, and it increased 38% to 247 in 2023.

Most of those 247 serious complications were “retained products” (83) and “failed abortion” (122). “Retained products” means body parts of the baby remained in the womb following the abortion, and “failed abortion” means the woman remained pregnant following the abortion. Many of those women likely were forced to undergo a second abortion.

Increasing complications could be due to increased use of the abortion pill, which has a larger risk of complications than surgical abortions, especially a failed abortion. 72% of the reported serious complications were from pill abortions.

These numbers are likely a large undercount, because most abortion facilities refuse to report all complications.

#6: Abortion demographics continue aging

For the first time, the number of abortions on Michigan women ages 30 and older surpassed 10,000, with 10,485 reported in 2023.

The increase is not due to Michigan’s aging population and fewer young people; the abortion rate for women 30 and older was 12.2 in 2023, up from 6.4 in 1989.

#7: Repeat abortions are increasing

For most women, abortion is not a one-time thing. In 2022, 51% of abortions were repeat abortions. That number increased to 52.1% in 2023. The number of women who had abortions who reported two or more previous abortions was 27.6% in 2023, up from 26.4%.

So, for every four women sitting in an abortion facility, one is there having her second abortion, and another is having her third abortion (or more).

#8: Racial disparities with abortion persist

53% of abortions in Michigan are done on Black women, despite them being only about 14% of the female population. The abortion rate for White women was 6.8% in 2023, but it was nearly seven times higher for Black women, at 47.3%.

The number of White women in 2023 who were having their third abortion or more was 14.5%, but it was 38.7% for Black women.

#9: Abortions happening earlier in pregnancy

Again, increasing use of the abortion pill continues to drive changes in Michigan abortion statistics. 70% of abortions in 2023 were done on women in their 8th week of pregnancy or earlier, up from 67% in 2022. For those seeking to help women through unexpected pregnancies, the most critical moment is right after a woman sees a positive pregnancy test.

#10: Who’s having abortions?

Though the facts above should you give you a pretty good idea on who is having abortions in Michigan, let’s take a look at profile of the “median abortion client” in Michigan to sum it up. The “median client” means for this hypothetical woman, more than 50% of women having abortions share these characteristics.

In 2023, the median abortion client was a 27-year old Black woman living in Metro Detroit. She is unmarried, already has one child, and she’s having her second abortion. She’s 6 weeks pregnant. She didn’t see a doctor for a referral, finding a local abortion business online to obtain abortion pills and paid with cash.