A proposed state constitutional amendment for government mandated forced births (anti-abortion) was voted down nearly 60% to 40%. – Read more on NPR

According to the Detroit Free Press, Michigan is on the way to becoming a Mecca for abortions. Given the stringent bans on abortions in its surrounding states, increasing numbers of Michigan’s abortion patients come from out of state, primarily from Ohio and Indiana. (73% of non-residents who come for abortions are from Ohio; 17% from Indiana.) Women come from Illinois, Kentucky, and Wisconsin as well. Of course, most of the abortions performed in Michigan are on Michigan women with Wayne, Genesee, Macomb, Oakland, and Muskegon having the highest rates of abortion.

According to data from the Center for Disease Control, Michigan performed the fifth-highest number of abortions in the country relative to the population. (This rate doesn’t include data from California, Maryland, and New Hampshire.) In 2019, there were 14.5 abortions performed in Michigan, about 14.5 per 1,000 women age 15-44.)

Older women who’ve sustained at least one full-term pregnancy are becoming the new face of the abortion patient, constituting at least half of the abortion patients in the state. In contrast to 1983 when about one-third of abortions in Michigan were on teenagers, in 2021, teens represented less than 8% of the total number of abortions.

Unchanged, however, is the predominance of Black and poor women who make their way to the abortionist’s table.(In 2021, 55.6% of Michigan abortions were performed on Black women.) According to the Guttmacher Institute, the health disparities between Black and white women are responsible for the former’s higher rates of unwanted pregnancy. As has been often noted, restrictions on abortion will be unduly hard on the poor and women of color.

Tuesday, August 16. MI Vote Counts: How do we know Michigan elections are secure?

MI Vote Counts is a non-partisan, weekly web-series hosted by the Michigan Department of State. Sessions feature helpful voter how-tos, a deep-dive into how Michigan elections are run, and tips for preparing your community for this November. Link to the Zoom event: https://bit.ly/MIVote816. Noon – 1 pm

A Call to Action:

Participate in the Elections this November

Volunteers are needed for the November elections. Review the jobs here and sign up!! Examples of positions include Early voting observers, Election Day Poll Challenger, Cure Team and Poll Worker

Paid jobs for the Michigan Democratic Party can be found here. Examples of positions include Field Organizers, Campus Organizers and Digital Field Organizers

Help support the coming elections with WCDP

The Washtenaw County Democratic Party (WCDP) is recruiting area progressives for a variety of interesting volunteer roles. The county Dem party is an all-volunteer organization. Please fill out the Volunteer Interest Form and someone will be in touch.

Here are a few of the roles that need help:

Neighborhood Organizer: Inform and galvanize potential voters in your neighborhood (aka precincts) – as an elected “precinct delegate” or unelected volunteer.

Canvassing Buddy: Support door-knocking neighborhood organizers by managing supplies, lists, and other needs.

Area Captain: This is a leadership role activating organizers in one of 15 geographic areas of the county.

Tabling Coordination: Make sure we have the supplies and volunteers we need to show a friendly face where we need to be.

Event Planning: Organize social and educational events to build Democratic community.

Communication Team: This team works on the weekly newsletter, press releases, messaging, website development, social media management and all other communication needs. If you have a background in website/IT coordination, communications, or project management, this would be a great fit for you!

Check out this new recurring section each week to see our favorite trending videos online. We encourage you to click and share the links to these fun and informative short form videos on your favorite social media platforms!

Instant Replay! School Board Candidate Virtual Forums - Ypsilanti + Ann Arbor

Four positions for Ann Arbor and three for Ypsilanti will be determined in the November 8 general election. School board members have a say in virtually every aspect of school district functioning. They choose superintendents. They set budgets. They decide whether new schools need to be built and old schools updated. They make or influence policy on everything from book banning to student privacy to school closures for health reasons.

Washtenaw County Voter Turnout Receives Poor Report Card

The voter turnout for the August 2 primary was analyzed across the state and presented in detail in MLive. Voter turnout is typically low in primary elections when one party has a governor candidate running unopposed – like this year. This year was different. Michigan had 2.16 million people cast a ballot – the second-most out of the past 12 governor primaries in Michigan. About half of the votes cast last Tuesday were via absentee ballots. Turnout varied widely by county as illustrated the interactive map on MLive.

Overall, turnout across the state was 26.6%. Leelanau County near Traverse City had the highest voter turnout of any county, with 43.3% of registered voters casting a ballot. Gogebic County in the western U.P. had the lowest turnout, at 19.0%. Overall, turnout across the state was 26.6%. Turnout in Washtenaw County was 27.7% By comparison, Oakland County turnout was 30%, Wayne County was 21%, Charlevoix was 34.5% and Antrim was 37.5%. The full details are available here.

The primary is November 8 with absentee voting beginning on September 29. Voter turnout will be a major factor in deciding the election! If you have not yet registered, do so here. All registered voters in Michigan can now vote using an absentee ballot, but you need to submit an application in order to receive your ballot. If you are considering voting absentee, sign up to be put on the list to automatically receive application for permanent absentee ballot every election. Voters can apply for an Absent Voter Ballot for the November 8 Election starting 75 days before Election Day. Check back here beginning August 25, 2022 to use the online Application system. Check the State of Michigan Voter Information Center for more details about voting.

 Governor Whitmer Accomplishments

• Governor Whitmer is willing to sit down with anyone to get things done. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together and has signed over 900 bipartisan bills.
• She made the largest investment in K-12 education in our state’s history without raising taxes, turned a projected $3 billion deficit into a $7 billion surplus, cut taxes for small business owners, and provided over $400 million to local businesses to support and retain jobs.
• Whitmer is reversing decades of disinvestment from our infrastructure and moving dirt to fix the damn roads. She has already repaired over 13,000 lane miles and more than 900 bridges, while supporting over 80,000 good paying jobs.
• Governor Whitmer has secured 25,000 new auto jobs. Thanks to her leadership, the future of auto manufacturing will be made in Michigan, by Michigan workers.
• Whitmer helped enroll 35,000 four-year-olds in high-quality pre-K and brought affordable child care to 105,000 more children.
• The Governor has put 170,000 Michiganders and counting on a path to good-paying jobs with tuition-free skills training and higher education programs.
• And she is putting more money back in the pockets of Michiganders with $400 refund checks for every driver in the state.
• Governor Whitmer is delivering on the fundamentals, creating opportunity, and improving people’s lives.

Her opponent Tudor Dixon has made it clear she will drag Michigan backwards.

Source: Newsletter from WashtenawDems.org

You can hear about this dangerous challenge from Aghogho Edevbie, the Michigan State Director of All Voting is Local who was recently interviewed on Conversations by clicking here.

He tells you, first, that the threats to flood the polls with election workers who can swing things their way, and with poll challengers who can disrupt the vote, can be overcome.

Thanks to strong election laws and our excellent Secretary of State, these attempts will be stopped at the gate. But we are needed to hold that gate! 

Aghogo lays out the many ways that we can be part of the process, whether as (paid) election workers, as poll watchers, or as part of the election hotline that helps head off problems as they develop. They have threatened us with an army, but we will meet them with our own defenders of a fair and orderly election. To learn more about how you can help, email Chuck at chuck@LBA80.com. Lastly, mark you calendars for the next Conversations on Sunday, August 21 when Chuck Newman will interview Eli Neiberger.

ActionHub connects you to 100+ local groups who share our Democratic values. We are better together. Take action today. From the Washtenaw Dems.

Plus, there are many important ballot initiatives that need signatures and many ways to help. Catch up on what you can do from home, events in our area, and connections with allied organizations at the WCDP Mobilize dashboard.

Its easy to join our newsletter mailing list

Just send your email address by text message:

Text EQUALITYINGOV

to 22828 to get started.

Or join our mailing list by filling out our sign up form.

Click here to sign up!

Follow PEG on Social Media