Abortion and reproductive healthcare are on the minds of voters nationwide this election season, including those in Michigan, where a handful of races could flip control of the state government.
One consequential race is in Michigan’s 54th District, which includes Oakland County, where paralegal and Democrat Sarah Pounds is running for state representative against Republican Roman Gaskey, a 23-year-old strategy and product analyst who recently graduated from the University of Michigan and narrowly won the Republican primary for the district.
“When I’m knocking on doors, a lot of times, young women tell me that reproductive rights and maintaining control over medical decisions for their own bodies keeps them up at night,” Pounds said in an interview with The ‘Gander.
“I’m a mom of four daughters, and I want them to grow up with the freedom to make their own decisions about their bodies, their health, and their future—not fewer rights than I had growing up and the generations of women who came before me.”
Pounds said her community’s concerns regarding reproductive healthcare access have increased over the past year, after the Trump administration signed the Republican-backed reconciliation bill into law last summer. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OBBBA, cut federal Medicaid funding for hospitals and healthcare providers in Michigan and nationwide.
These cuts have shaken up Planned Parenthood of Michigan (PPMI), which has shuttered its education department and closed several brick-and-mortar health clinics across the state to accommodate a multi-million-dollar funding gap caused by federal Medicaid cuts. As a result, thousands of Michiganders who rely on PPMI for services, including cancer screenings, annual wellness exams, contraception, and other healthcare, must drive miles to another clinic or other healthcare provider—many of whom are already stretched thin as they juggle patients in overflowing waiting rooms.
Reproductive health advocates worry that these closures would put a lot of pressure on staff at PPMI’s Ferndale clinic in Oakland County, whose residents made roughly 6,000 visits to Planned Parenthood locations for services between July 2025 and July 2026.
To ease this burden and keep the health center open and available to patients, in a proposal introduced by Board Chair Dave Woodward, the Oakland County Board of Commissioners recently approved $1.5 million in emergency funding that will reimburse Planned Parenthood of Michigan for eligible in-person and telehealth services at its Ferndale health center to keep the clinic operational through 2028.
While Pounds is grateful the board stepped in, she said local governments shouldn’t have to clean up messes made by federal lawmakers.
“Local government should not have to fill the gaps that were created by the federal funding cuts from the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,’ but Oakland County did it to protect the people who live here,” Pounds said.
Pounds and other reproductive rights advocates also worry that federal attacks on reproductive healthcare will expand beyond brick-and-mortar health clinics, especially as the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit hears arguments that debate whether patients can receive a mifepristone prescription through telemedicine.
Reproductive healthcare advocates point to decades of evidence, efficacy studies, and testimonials proving that the pill is a safe and effective method for abortion seekers and say this is just the latest step in anti-abortion politicians’ plans to restrict abortion access, even in states like Michigan where abortion is protected.
“Michigan is going to have to decide whether reproductive healthcare is something that it funds, or something that it just permits,” said Paula Thornton Greear, president and CEO of PPMI, in an interview with The ‘Gander. Greear added that lawmakers also need to be held accountable when they vote against their constituents’ health and well-being.
“This is about making sure folks have access, and now we’re at a point where we have to hold these people accountable for their bad votes,” Greear said.
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All of these issues are weighing heavily on Pounds. If elected on Nov. 3, she told The ‘Gander that she would oppose any attempt by lawmakers to restrict abortion access or interfere with personal medical decisions between patients and their doctors, whether that’s in-person or through telehealth.
“We can protect and expand access to contraception, and we need to address affordability and geographic access to reproductive healthcare, because wherever they live around Michigan, communities should have access to this care,” Pounds said.
While Pounds’ opponent, Roman Gaskey, has been quiet about his stance on expanding reproductive healthcare, several Republican members of the Michigan House of Representatives have endorsed his campaign. This includes Reps Mark Tisdel and Donni Steele, both of whom have voted repeatedly against expanding protections for abortion seekers in Michigan.
