Michigan Right To Life Group Files Paperwork For Abortion Petition Drive

LANSING (AP) — Anti-abortion group Right to Life of Michigan has filed paperwork to begin a petition drive to ban a common second-trimester abortion procedure.

The organization made the expected announcement Wednesday, a day after the Republican-led Legislature passed bills to prohibit the dilation and evacuation method and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she would veto them.

Right to Life, which calls the procedure "dismemberment," needs to collect about 340,000 valid voter signatures. If it does, the Legislature could enact the initiated legislation on its own and sidestep a Whitmer veto.

Right to Life says it has received a "large outpouring of requests to get involved," but it does not plan to begin circulating petitions until the Board of State Canvassers approves the form of the petition.

© 2019 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.