Whitmer Wants Protection For Americans Seeking Abortions In Canada

MICHIGAN — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on federal officials Thursday to ensure Americans can legally bring abortion pills back into the United States from Canada.

While U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that travelers can bring prescription medication across the border with a doctor’s prescription, other agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration say "in most circumstances, it is illegal for individuals to import drugs into the United States for personal use."

Whitmer told federal officials at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that she believes Michiganders will cross the border into the Canada to seek abortion medicine if the state's supreme court upholds a 1931 law banning abortion in Michigan.

A Michigan judge has temporarily blocked the state's 1931 law from going into effect after U.S. Supreme Court justices overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case, but that ruling can be overturned at any moment, which would then trigger the state's abortion ban.

Whitmer filed a lawsuit in the state's supreme court, asking the justices to formally recognize a woman's right to abortion under a bodily integrity provision in the state's constitution. The court is excepted to issue a ruling on that case.

"I will continue fighting like hell to protect access to abortion and other reproductive care in Michigan, and I encourage the federal government to pull out all the stops to ensure that Michiganders can access care in Canada if they need to," Whitmer said. "In this perilous, precarious moment for women’s fundamental rights, we need to be creative and take bold action. We must lead.”

Of the 13 states that share a border with Canada, the metro Detroit area is the nation's largest population closest to the Canadian border, Whitmer said. Moreover, she said the Ambassador Bridge is the busiest border crossing between the two countries, with more than 10,000 commercial vehicles on a typical weekday.