NATIONAL AND US NEWS FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Michigan Democrats move to protect reproductive health data before GOP takes control of House

Dec 5, 2024, 9:03 PM

Michigan State Sen. Sarah Anthony, left, and Sen. Mallory McMorrow talk on the Senate floor, Wednes...

Michigan State Sen. Sarah Anthony, left, and Sen. Mallory McMorrow talk on the Senate floor, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Lansing, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Democrats are pushing this month to pass legislation they say will improve reproductive health care, in particular the safety of Republicans taking over the state House in 2025.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is backing a bill designed to protect reproductive health data including data logged on menstrual cycle tracking apps. Similar legislation that has passed in other states is aimed at keeping the data from being used to target people seeking abortions.

“This feels like a very urgent need for us to get this done while we have a window in Michigan with the Democratic majority for the next few weeks,” said state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, sponsor of the digital privacy bill.

The rush is a reaction to expectations that it will be harder to pass the reproductive health care policies Democrats favor after Republicans take control of the state House in January. Democrats kept control of the state Senate in the November election.

Republicans have opposed the digital privacy bill over a section they say will stifle anti-abortion advertising.

Other reproductive health bills to be considered during the December session that began Tuesday include a package on Black maternal health and an expansion of access to birth control.

After the overturn of Roe v. Wade, some women in states with strict abortion bans began to worry that their health information could be used to track their reproductive status. Apps that track menstrual cycles became a major focus point.

Abortion is constitutionally protected in Michigan. But McMorrow does not trust President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign promise to veto any possible national abortion ban nor his campaign’s efforts to distance itself from Project 2025, which proposed a rollback on abortion and contraception access.

Period tracking apps allow women to take detailed day-by-day notes about their health, from how heavy their period flow is to additional symptoms such as cramping. They can log pregnancies and miscarriages.

“These tools are really valuable,” McMorrow said. “I just want to make sure that the guardrails are there when indications from the incoming federal administration is they would potentially weaponize the data in a way that is very dangerous.”

Federal law bars medical providers from sharing health data without a patient’s consent but doesn’t prevent digital tech companies from tracking menstrual cycles or an individual’s location and selling it to data brokers. Legislation for federal bans have never gained momentum, largely because of opposition from the tech industry.

How the legislation works varies from state to state. Washington state has digital privacy law that broadly covers all health-related data while Virginia has a law that explicitly prohibits the issuance of search warrants, subpoenas or court orders for electronic or digital menstrual health data.

Michigan’s proposal would require businesses or organizations to use reproductive health data only for the services it provides, and consumers must be informed of how the data is being used. In order to sell that data, an entity would need explicit, signed consent from the consumer. Consumers would also have the option to opt out from their data being sold at any time.

It would also regulate retailers, who often compile data to target consumers with advertisements, and the use of geofencing, which allows marketers to target consumers with ads based on their location.

The bill would prohibit identifying who is receiving reproductive health care by using location information and targeting them with advertisements. This would apply to people visiting fertility or abortion clinics.

The geofencing provision of the bill has drawn objection from anti-abortion advocates. Genevieve Marnon, legislative director for Right to Life of Michigan, said in committee testimony Tuesday that the bill would prevent women visiting an abortion clinic from being reached by anti-abortion ads.

“This isn’t safeguarding women’s reproductive health data,” she said. “It is limiting the options presented to women.”

Republican Sen. John Damoose, who voted against the bill in committee, believes the geofencing provision encroaches on freedom of speech and religion by preventing anti-abortion advertising.

The bill was voted out of committee Tuesday on party lines and advanced Thursday toward a final vote in the Senate chamber.

Kimya Forouzan, principal state policy director at the Guttmacher Institute, expects the topic to be taken up by other state legislatures next year. Guttmacher, which supports abortion rights, tracks reproductive health trends.

Over the past two years, Michigan Democrats have passed bills repealing a number of anti-abortion laws, including the state’s 1931 ban, and adding surrogacy protections to state law. Lawmakers are considering a number of others related to reproductive health this month.

A group of bills focused on improving maternal health for Black women would create a doula scholarship, among other measures. The Senate voted its package on the topic through to the House on Tuesday.

Rep. Jaime Churches, a Democrat from the downriver area of Detroit who lost her seat in November, is trying to gain traction for two bills that would require insurance to cover fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization and intrauterine insemination.

Three bills seeking to expand access to birth control through insurance have passed the state House. McMorrow also introduced a series of bills aimed at providing long-lasting reversible contraception, such an implants or intrauterine devices, to patients who have given birth before they are discharged from a hospital.

There is competition among Democrats for time during this short, lame duck session. Advocates for economic development, infrastructure and gun control measures are among the many looking to push through bills in the month that is left. Major contention over new paid sick leave and minimum wage requirements is likely to garner attention. Those discussions could reduce the amount of time available to debate reproductive health measures.

___

The Associated Press’ women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

National and US News from the Associated Press

FILE - This colorized electron microscope image released by the National Institute of Allergy and I...

Associated Press

New York temporarily shutters bird markets after seven cases of avian flu are detected in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — New York on Friday ordered a weeklong shutdown of all live bird markets in New York City, Westchester and Long Island after seven cases of avian flu were detected at bird markets in the city. Gov. Kathy Hochul said there is no immediate threat to public health and that the temporary […]

20 minutes ago

Demonstrators and lawmakers rally against President Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk as they dis...

Associated Press

Forced leaves start for thousands at USAID under a Trump plan to gut the foreign aid agency

WASHINGTON (AP) — Forced leaves began in Washington and worldwide Friday for most employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development, as federal workers associations turned to the courts to try to roll back Trump administration orders that have dismantled most of the agency and U.S.- funded aid programs around the world. Under a Trump […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

The Latest: US allies in Europe join ICC against Trump’s sanctions over Israel

The International Criminal Court on Friday called on its member states to stand up against sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump, saying that the move was an attempt to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work.” And the embattled court got plenty of support from traditional U.S. allies in Europe who stood up against the […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

2 dead, 3 injured in weather event with ‘possible tornado,’ officials in Tennessee say

WARTBURG, Tenn. (AP) — Two people were killed in eastern Tennessee when severe storms with a possible tornado moved through the region. Local officials announced Friday morning that a mother and daughter from the same household were killed when the storm passed through the Deer Lodge and Sunbright areas of Morgan County on Thursday night. […]

2 hours ago

Tim Andrews smiles as he leaves Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on Feb. 1, 2025. (Kate Flo...

Associated Press

New Hampshire man is 2nd person known to be living with a pig kidney

A New Hampshire man fought for the chance at a pig kidney transplant, spending months getting into good enough shape to be part of a small pilot study of a highly experimental treatment. His effort paid off: Tim Andrews, 66, is only the second person known to be living with a pig kidney. Andrews is […]

2 hours ago

Rev. Esteban Rodriguez, who leads Centro Cristiano El Pan de Vida, prays for congregants during a c...

Associated Press

Latino evangelical churches gear up to face possible immigration enforcement in churches

Bishop Ebli De La Rosa says his motto right now is “to prepare for the worst and pray for the best.” De La Rosa, who oversees Church of God of Prophecy congregations in nine southeastern states, says he has had to respond quickly to the Trump administration’s new orders, which have thrown out policies that […]

2 hours ago

Michigan Democrats move to protect reproductive health data before GOP takes control of House