Michigan’s Senate has just passed HB 5711, the sweeping anti-abortion omnibus, with a few modifications that require it to go back to the House for review. The legislation goes so far as to require screening for patients to ensure that they aren’t being forced to end their pregnancies, places new regulations on how fetal material is disposed of, and requires private offices to be licensed as “freestanding surgical outpatient facilities” if they perform more than 120 abortions per year, according to a story on WXYZ.
This bill drew heavy criticism earlier this year for many things, including its impact on abortion clinics, with critics saying that the regulations contained within the bill, including building requirements such as square footage and door sizes, could force those clinics to shut down, thus seriously reducing women’s access to abortions across the state.
