What A Day - Voters Could Protect Abortion Rights In Michigan

Episode Date: May 10, 2022

Michigan has a 1931 law on the books that criminalizes abortion. That law has not been enforced since 1973 when Roe v Wade was decided, but it hasn’t been repealed either. And so it would take effect again should Roe be overturned because the state’s GOP-controlled legislature said they don’t plan to revoke it. We talk with Kelly Hall of The Fairness Project, which is gathering signatures to put a referendum on the ballot this fall to bypass the legislature and take the matter directly to voters. If they approve it, the measure would amend the state’s constitution to make reproductive freedom a right.And in headlines: Vladimir Putin doesn’t declare victory on Russia’s Victory Day, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is projected to be the next president of the Philippines, and President Biden announced a plan to subsidize broadband Internet for low-income homes.Show Notes:Michigan Reproductive Freedom For All – https://mireproductivefreedom.org/Ban Off Our Bodies Rally on May 14th – https://bit.ly/3P1KxgNDonate to abortion funds, take action and more via Vote Save America – votesaveamerica.com/roeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Tuesday, May 10th. I'm Gideon Resnick. And I'm Josie Duffy Rice, and this is What A Day, encouraging people who won a Pulitzer Prize yesterday to reward themselves with a day off from being geniuses. Yeah, just write some of the worst stuff you can ever do today, just as like an exercise. You know, you love challenges. This will be a challenge to yourself. Just have a day of failure as a gift. On today's show, Russian President Vladimir Putin

did not declare victory over Ukraine in the country's Victory Day holiday yesterday. Plus, the son of the Philippines' former dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, is poised to be the country's next ruler. But first, we want to turn to reproductive rights. So following the leaked SCOTUS draft opinion last week that would overturn Roe v. Wade, many states are working on what their abortion laws could look like in the future. However, in Michigan, they're looking backwards. There is a 1931 law already on the books there that defines abortion as a felony. It also makes performing an abortion in many circumstances, including in cases of rape and incest, illegal and forbids the use of drugs to induce an abortion. Thankfully, that law has not been enforced since 1973 when Roe was decided, but it hasn't been

repealed either, and so it would take effect again should Roe be overturned. And last month before the Supreme Court leak, Michigan's Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, along with Planned Parenthood in Michigan, had filed lawsuits to try to block the enforcement of this law in case Roe was overturned. And the state's Attorney General Dana Nessel said yesterday

that she would not enforce this law if it was in effect. Again, it could all be very easy if the legislature wanted to handle it, but Republicans control the state's legislature. They could completely repeal the ban, but the state's GOP leaders have reportedly said that they are inclined to keep it, but Republicans control the state's legislature. They could completely repeal the ban,

but the state's GOP leaders have reportedly said that they are inclined to keep it. So to get ahead of this law going into effect, activists and groups are trying to get a proposal called Reproductive Freedom for All on the ballot in November. If passed, it would amend the state's constitution to make reproductive freedom a right. The Fairness Project, along with the ACLU of Michigan, Michigan Voices, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan are leading this campaign, and they are now collecting signatures to get this directly to voters and bypass the legislature. We have with us today Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, who is working with organizers on this initiative. Kelly, welcome to What A Day.

Thanks so much for having me. So tell us what would this ballot measure actually do and how would it protect abortion access if the state law doesn't get overturned? So the ballot measure in Michigan would enact a constitutional amendment in the state that would protect reproductive freedom, including abortion, in the state. So it wouldn't be up to any one legislature, whether it's controlled by Democrats or Republicans, to decide in any year whether abortion is legal or not. It would be a constitutionally protected right. And it would have the effect of superseding, of overruling the existing law on the books that criminalizes abortion. And in the span of time between now and this conceivably being on the ballot, Michigan AG Dana Nessel said that she would not enforce

the 1931 law that is on the book should Roe be overturned. What did you make of that? And then how on this timeline that we're looking at, does that impact everything in the state overall? I would say thank goodness for good people in good places, which is, it is very important in the state overall? I would say thank goodness for good people in good places, which is it is very important in the immediate aftermath of a Supreme Court decision to make sure that people in need of abortions in Michigan can still get that care. Should Michigan find itself with an AG of a different opinion in a different moment, that fundamental human right

could evaporate with the changing of one elected official. And that is too tenuous a place for us to leave reproductive rights in the state of Michigan. So that is a very important but not sufficient solution to the problem in Michigan, which is why having a constitutionally protected right at the state level, even if it's overturned at the federal level, is so important for people in Michigan. So why put this as a vote to the people? What are the surveys? What are the polls? What does your understanding say about the people's support for an idea like this? Sure. Well, Michigan is similar to the rest of the country, which is that there's overwhelming

support for upholding Roe v. Wade and for abortion decisions to be made between the people who are seeking them and their health care providers. A recent poll that's publicly available in Michigan showed that 67 percent of Michigan voters don't want to see Roe v. Wade overturned at the Supreme Court level compared to only 19% of Michigan voters who do. The fact that there's that sort of overwhelming support in a state and still like the flipping of a switch, if five justices at the Supreme Court rule in a particular way, abortion will be criminalized in Michigan. So that is the enormous disconnect that can only really be resolved in this moment by an act of the people because we don't see the mood of the Republican-controlled legislature in Michigan changing despite those public opinion polls. This is one of those moments where the preferences

of voters and the actions of legislators are deeply out of sync with each other and those are the moments when we need to use the direct democracy tool that we have. It's why Michigan has this mechanism for citizens to bring forward constitutional amendments on the issues that are of the most vital importance. And we already saw that there were some Republican lawmakers who control the state's legislature, basically celebrating that leaked Supreme Court draft that we saw.

How, if at all, are they trying to stop this from happening? Is there any mechanism by which they could? They can't stop the ballot measure from advancing to voters. They can run a campaign against it, just like we will be running a proactive communications campaign. We'll be communicating with voters about why this is so important. We anticipate that people who don't share this worldview about reproductive freedom as a human right will oppose it. But based on the numbers that I just shared, we think they're on the losing end of that argument. So can you tell us the timeline that you're thinking about here? When would this be on

the ballot and when is the earliest that it could go into effect? There's a few steps to this process. So right now, supporters of this constitutional amendment in Michigan are collecting signatures to qualify it for the ballot. They need to collect over 425,000 valid signatures before July 11th. And after they turn in those signatures, the state will count them up, validate them for the November election this fall, that is when voters will get to decide whether this is an amendment they want in their constitution or not. And it would go into effect the following year. So how can Michigan basically be an example to other states? How can activists in other states use this as a model to get abortion rights insured wherever they are?

There are 23 states around the country, including Washington, D.C., that have citizen-initiated ballot measure processes. So in all 23 of those places, folks can take up clipboards and enact legislation or enact constitutional amendments themselves. They don't have to wait for elected officials. And there are a small number of those places, like California and Oregon where abortion rights have already been statutorily protected. But this is going to be a really powerful tool as advocates start thinking about what the path forward is in Ohio, in Arkansas, in Nebraska, in Montana. These are all places where the ballot measure process may be the only tool

in the toolbox since elected officials are unlikely to act. And we and other partners are available to help support local advocates and going, what does it take to do this right? This has been a stretch of justifiable despair for people. But what has been your message through all of that? The thing that is really important to me is that we find ways to channel our rage and frustration and despair into something productive. And this ballot measure is one of those opportunities to do that. And I think is also serving as a really important reminder that even though influencing the Supreme Court may seem out of reach, even though Congress is likely to try

and fail to act this week, that we are not out of options. That just because the eggs that were in our federal advocacy basket may not hatch, there are a lot of other avenues for protecting reproductive freedom and abortion rights in other ways. And this ballot measure is one example of that, but it can be the start of many additional ballot measures. And there are plenty of options left and a lot of work still to be done. And I hope we can channel that despair into action. Well, Kelly, thank you so much again for joining us. We really appreciate it. Thanks so much for having me. That was our conversation with Kelly Hall from the Fairness Project. We're going to have links in our show notes so you can learn more about the ballot measure. And if you are in Michigan,

how you can volunteer to get signatures. We're going to keep following all this, of course, but that is the latest for now. We'll be back with some headlines. Headlines. It was Victory Day in Russia yesterday, and President Vladimir Putin did not declare victory in Ukraine. It was expected that he would use Russia's national holiday to say its forces triumphed in some way during the invasion of Ukraine, or to at least promise to escalate the violence. But speaking before a military parade in Moscow on Monday, he mostly emphasized Russia's rationale for invading Ukraine to fight against Nazis. Although, as we mentioned on yesterday's

show, that is a lie. There is no evidence that Nazis lead Ukraine. Before Putin spoke, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky released a video of himself walking through his country's capital of Kiev and accused Putin of being the one to carry on Hitler's legacy and that Ukrainians will fight Russia as they fought against the Nazis in World War Two. He added, quote, we won then, we will win now, very soon, there will be two victory days in Ukraine. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appeared to have won the presidential election in the Philippines yesterday. Official counting is reportedly set to begin today, but preliminary results from 95% of precincts showed Marcos Jr. leading his closest competition by more than double. Marcos' father led the Philippines as a dictator from 1965 to 1986, but was ousted in what has

been called the People Power Uprising. During the two-decade rule of Marcos Sr., the Marcos family took between $5 and $10 billion from the treasury and put it in their own pockets. Observers think that Marcos Jr. will try to shield his family from further prosecution and investigation. They also expect him to protect the country's outgoing populist president, Rodrigo Duterte, from possible prosecution by the International Criminal Court. A drug war Duterte declared led to the extrajudicial killings of thousands. The vice president of Marcos Jr. is Sarah Duterte, Rodrigo's daughter,

and the New York Times reported that their overlapping fan bases might have helped seal the deal for both candidates. Reacting to the election's result, one political science in the Philippines told the Times, quote, this is a dashing of the hopes that there will be a U-turn away from the backsliding toward authoritarian rule that was begun by President Duterte. A dashing of the hopes is my memoir title about this particular era in time. It's not the best. President Joe Biden wants to share the joy that he's gotten out of streaming World War II documentaries and big band music with a larger number of Americans.

Yesterday, his administration announced its plan to provide 48 million households with subsidized broadband internet, which will cost no more than $30 a month. The program is part of the $1 trillion infrastructure package Congress passed last year. It hinges on agreements with 20 internet providers like AT&T and Verizon who have agreed to offer their services to low-income families at a discount. Biden has spoken in the past about the necessity of having high-speed internet, which is a portal to work, education, healthcare, and and of course, a big hole to dump our time in.

Last year, about 7 in 10 adults in rural areas reported having home broadband access, so there are still large gaps, and the cost of service is thought to be the biggest obstacle. There are some concerns among experts that Biden's plan doesn't have enough funding. Some estimate that money for subsidies will run out by 2025, beyond which point families may be stuck with a new pricey bill every month. If you want to see if you qualify for subsidized broadband, aka Biden band, you can call 877-384-2575 or paradoxically log on to getinternet.gov. Hard to go to the website when you don't have internet. Tough. A scrappy beatdown-down, nearly-dead underdog called Personal Privacy scored a win yesterday. The facial recognition company Clearview AI agreed to settle a case in Illinois

that accused it of collecting people's photos without their consent and will discontinue some of its most controversial practices. Clearview had built up a huge database of more than 20 billion facial photos, which works out to about three for every person on Earth, presumably two serious and one silly. The photos were scraped from places like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, which is something you can just do

if you're a software company that wants to disrupt being a creep. Clearview used to package its database with its facial recognition algorithm and sell it to private businesses, police departments, and more. More than 600 law enforcement agencies bought it. And privacy advocates grew concerned about how the technology could fall into the hands of stalkers, ex-partners, and predatory companies. But enough about the law enforcement agencies.

Oh, i like it uh who could use clearview's so-called face prints to identify and track almost anyone and settling yesterday clearview agreed to stop selling its database except to federal and state agencies clearview will still be allowed to sell its algorithm to private companies the lawsuit that led to this settlement was brought by the american civil liberties union two years, and it's far from the only legal action that has been taken against Clearview. The company is facing a $22.6 million fine in England, a 20 million euro fine in Italy, and has been banned in Canada, Australia, and parts of Europe. You know, if this exists, and there's three of every human at the very least we should be allowed to select which

ones you know like how silly am i in the one picture and how serious am i in the other two and what age is and what lighting is it you know like if you're gonna take this that's my choice that's true i choose the one that looks the least like me. Exactly right. That's my angle here. I will be selecting stock images that do not resemble me whatsoever and tagging myself in them. It's me, I swear. To prevent this from happening. That's my long game. If you think that any of my social media profiles are weird and don't contain pictures of me, it's for this explicit reason. I understand. I understand. I

understand. Yeah. And those are the headlines. One more thing before we go this week on pod save the world. Ben talks to US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo about the newest round of US sanctions against Russia. Plus, Ben and Tommy discuss Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s projected landslide victory in the Philippines presidential election and what those results could mean for democracy worldwide. New episodes of Posse of the World drop every Wednesday. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, delete us from Clearview's hard drive and tell your friends to listen.

And if you're into reading and not just Joe Biden's glowing reviews of World War Two documentaries on Letterboxd like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Josie Duffy Rice. I'm Gideon Resnick. And enjoy your day off Pulitzer winners. Yeah, you have worked your entire life to have a single day off. And now it's here. And that's it. That's all you get. You're welcome. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance,

Jazzy Marine, and Raven Yamamoto are our associate producers. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our executive producers are Leo Duran and me, Gideon Resnick. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. you