LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a 9-bill package Monday to overturn a ban on contractual agreements between a willing surrogate and expected parents.
The Michigan Family Protection Act repeals the state’s existing surrogacy act that has been set in place for about 36 years.
On Sept. 1, 1988, state lawmakers passed and enforced the Surrogate Parenting Act, legislation that prohibited compensated surrogacy parenting in the Great Lakes State, according to the Michigan Legislature.
Michigan is the last state in the country to overturn the law.
“This is the most pro-family thing that this legislation has been able to get done and they have gotten a lot of good stuff done this year,” Whitmer said during Monday’s news conference as the crowd burst into applause.
Right to Life of Michigan issued a statement Monday, claiming Whitmer is attempting to “mislead voters with the fantasy that IVF, prenatal care and abortion are at risk in Michigan.”
The organization has filed a lawsuit to repeal Proposal 3, which enshrined abortion rights in the state’s constitution, according to Whitmer.
“Recently, Right to Life of Michigan filed a lawsuit to repeal Prop[sal] 3, endangering reproductive freedom, prenatal care and IVF … Not on my watch, I took swift action filing a motion to dismiss their lawsuit,” Whitmer said Monday.
“Parents in Michigan should be on notice! At stake now are common-sense protections for women, parents and children. Noticeably absent from today’s charade was any mention of parental consent for reproductive decisions of a minor child, including abortion. “The Governor and her allies in the state legislature are determined to further chip away at parental rights, intent on overturning parental consent in Michigan,” Amber Roseboom, president of Right to Life of Michigan, said.
One Michigan couple, Tammy and Jordan Myers, have been pushing for the passage of these bills since their legal battle to regain custody of their children.
Due to her medical history, she and Jordan decided to seek a surrogate to have children.
However, because of a state law, the Myerses could not take their new children home. They would have to go through an adoption process to bring them into their family, as contractual surrogacy was illegal in Michigan.