Inside Gretchen Whitmer's abortion fight
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 14 July 2022
⏱️ 28 minutes
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Summary
In a political party that has been criticized for its lukewarm response to the Dobbs decision, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan appears to stand out. We take you inside her fight — and her family’s — to protect abortion access in her home state.
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A year before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was already thinking about how to protect abortion rights in her home state. In particular, she was working to overturn a 1931 abortion ban that would go back into effect were Roe v. Wade ever ruled unconstitutional.
Many in the party labeled her an alarmist for her messaging well before the Dobbs decision. But now, she’s considered ahead of the curve in the fight to protect abortion rights.
As Whitmer prepares for her reelection campaign this November, her push for abortion rights will be one of the issues Michiganders will be judging her on in the polls.
Ruby Cramer, a political enterprise reporter for The Post, spent time with Whitmer shortly after the Dobbs decision to better understand her unique presence — and her family’s — in politics.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So a few days before the Fourth of July holiday, I flew to Michigan to try to talk to Governor |
| 0:15.4 | Gretchen Whitmer, who is in the middle of one of the most precarious abortion fights |
| 0:19.7 | in the country right now. |
| 0:20.7 | Ruby Kramer is a political enterprise reporter for the Post, and she's been following Whitmer |
| 0:37.6 | for some time. |
| 0:39.2 | The Democratic governor is facing re-election in Michigan. |
| 0:42.8 | One of the issues she'll be judged on in November is her record on abortion rights in her |
| 0:47.0 | state. |
| 0:48.0 | She actually moved to protect these rights a year before the Supreme Court overturned |
| 0:52.5 | row. |
| 0:53.8 | Back then, a number of people called Whitmer alarmist. |
| 0:57.6 | Now she's viewed as leading that fight. |
| 1:01.1 | And while she's leading this entire fight, she's also, you know, kind of navigating that |
| 1:08.0 | same crisis as a mother. |
| 1:09.9 | She's got two young daughters, Sherry, who's 20 years old, and Sydney, who's 18 years |
| 1:15.2 | old, they're both students at the University of Michigan. |
| 1:18.3 | And we wanted to sort of try to spend some time with a family, get inside the room with |
| 1:23.3 | them. |
| 1:24.3 | We know this was coming out, so it was a gut punch. |
| 1:28.8 | So it was a gut punch because I'm thinking about these girls. |
| 1:31.6 | Yeah. |
| 1:32.6 | You see, I'm the one that is late. |
... |
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