Rural Michiganders—and their doctors—rejoice as state lifts medically unneeded abortion restrictions

This Michigander has been sharing her devastating abortion story—and state lawmakers appear to have been listening.

Having an abortion isn’t a decision people make lightly—sometimes it’s a matter of life or death.

That was the case for Amanda Mazur. In 2017, halfway through her second pregnancy, Mazur received a devastating diagnosis—the fetus had major heart defects and other health issues so severe that in the unlikely event that she could carry her pregnancy to term, there was no possibility that her baby would survive.

The news was shocking and heartbreaking, and even though her pregnancy was wanted,  Mazur knew she needed to have an abortion.

With limited time and few provider options available for the rural Michigander, Mazur was forced to schedule her appointment on Christmas Day. Instead of opening presents with their 2-year-old, the Mazurs made the 160-mile drive from northwestern Michigan to the Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital in Ann Arbor—one of only two places in the state able to take Mazur as a patient given how far along she was in her pregnancy.

That’s the situation for many in Michigan, where abortion is legal, but not always accessible. On June 25, however, access to a fast, safe, and informed abortion got a little bit better in the Mitten State.

Misinformed & waiting

While the right to abortion care became protected in the Michigan constitution in 2022—after Michiganders voted in favor of Proposal 3—barriers still existed making access to abortions difficult. These included a lack of abortion clinics throughout most regions of the state, a 24-hour waiting period, and a requirement to print and review state-mandated “informed consent” information.

That meant that most women in Michigan facing an unplanned or medically dangerous pregnancy had to find an open appointment at a clinic far away from home, arrange time off work, childcare, and transportation, access a printer, both print and read the “informed consent” documents, and ensure their abortion could happen in the soonest possible window that allowed for a 24-hour waiting period after booking.

“My entire career, I have been forced to make patients wait for an arbitrary amount of time dictated by politicians before providing them with the medical care they need,” said Dr. Sarah Wallett, Chief Medical Operating Officer for Planned Parenthood of Michigan, in a statement.

“Michigan’s 24-hour delay forces us to turn patients away every day, and it’s heartbreaking to witness,” added Paula Thornton Greear, President & CEO of Planned Parenthood of Michigan.  

In addition to navigating this confusing and emotional journey, patients like Amanda Mazur have also faced misinformation. Several states, including Michigan, have abortion-related “information consent” laws, which require those seeking abortion care to receive a state-authored informational packet before the procedure can be performed. Yet over 40% of the statements found in Michigan’s informed consent documents are inaccurate, according to the Informed Consent Project—a research team that evaluates the medical accuracy of such documents across the US.

“You need to view those [documents] at least 24 hours before there’s a certain cut-off. If you don’t meet that, then you can’t have your care the next day,” said Mazur in a recent interview with The ‘Gander. If a patient misses that window—whether because they don’t have reliable internet access or because they’re coming from out-of-state and weren’t aware of the documents, their appointment must be rescheduled. 

“I was in a horrible emotional state about the diagnosis of my pregnancy. To review the information that is honestly very biased, stigmatizing, and plays up risks that aren’t necessarily accurate—that really hurt.” Mazur said.

Mazur said her documents even suggested that an abortion could increase a person’s risk of developing cancer, which health experts have debunked. 

“My pregnancy was not a healthy, normal pregnancy. To have to look at this biased information that is meant to induce shame, it’s hard, but it is biased and meant to serve as kind of a last-minute scare tactic,” she said. 

“A lot of patients struggle with the informed consent [documents]. They’d have their travel, and they’d have only a short window of time to be here—[only] to find out they didn’t review this paperwork in time and have to lengthen their stay.” 

But in late June, the Michigan Court of Claims granted a preliminary injunction to temporarily end Michigan’s 24-hour mandatory delay, including most of the informed consent law (providers must still provide verbal counseling and resources). 

The preliminary injunction pauses those barriers while the court considers their ultimate fate. A lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights—on behalf of Medical Students for Choice, and the Northland Family Planning Center—alleges those restrictions violate the Reproductive Freedom for All ballot initiative, passed by Michigan voters in 2022. 

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has said that they likely do—the ballot initiative, known as Proposal 3, prohibits any denial, burden, or infringement on the right to an abortion in Michigan. 

“I remain committed to defending the reproductive freedoms Michiganders deserve, and empathetically supported enshrining in our state constitution,” said Nessel in a recent press release.

At this time, patients do not need to review the state-mandated informed consent information, print the informed consent form, or wait 24 hours before they can receive abortion care—and health care providers are already feeling the difference.

“Before the injunction, this law forced us to cancel about six appointments per day. Now that patients aren’t being turned away and forced to re-book their appointments, wait times for everyone have been reduced,” Wallett said, in email correspondence with The ‘Gander. 

“The law was needlessly cruel and served no purpose other than to intentionally delay patients’ time-sensitive care and force them to reschedule—all because they had forgotten to print and bring a timestamped piece of paper to their appointment to prove they had reviewed biased misinformation.”

Fighting for others

After her own abortion, advocacy became an outlet for Amanda Mazur’s pain.

“I thought, if folks can hear my story and understand the thought process and what I had to go through in order to get that care, maybe they could then be moved to feel more empathy towards anyone that needs an abortion,” said Mazur. 

She began volunteering with other advocacy groups to promote Proposal 3, and celebrated alongside other abortion advocates when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Michigan’s Reproductive Health Act (RHA) into law last year. The package of laws, which passed largely because of a Democratic majority in the state legislature, further removed barriers to health care and protected access to abortion for all Michiganders. 

Mazur also became a founding member of Northwest Michigan for Reproductive Freedom in 2022, a grassroots group of Northwest Michiganders who are united in the fight to ensure a full spectrum of reproductive care—including abortion—is safe, legal, and accessible in their communities. 

While the RHA was a step forward for reproductive freedom in Michigan, the final bill package did not include the repeal of Michigan’s 24-hour waiting period. 

“It’s vital that we have reproductive-friendly policies and laws in place that allow us to get care without these silly political kind of policies that serve no purpose,” said Mazur. 

“We need to continue moving forward. I’m hopeful and motivated to help work towards that in my area, and I know others around the state are as well.”