Michigan group is short signatures to ban abortion method

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A ballot group failed to collect enough petition signatures to put veto-proof legislation before the Republican-led Michigan Legislature that would prohibit a common second-trimester abortion procedure, the state elections bureau said.

Monday's report was a blow to the Michigan Values Life committee. It submitted 380,000 signatures in December, about 40,000 more than the 340,000 needed.

Staff in the elections bureau, however, estimated that only about 333,000 of the signatures were valid and that the effort came 7,276 signatures short. A 500-signature sample had duplicates, signers with an invalid voter registration status and other errors.

The staff recommended that the bipartisan Board of State Canvassers — split between two Democrats and two Republicans — deny certification when it meets Thursday.

Right to Life of Michigan, the main organizer of the initiated bill, wants to ban dilation and evacuation — which it refers to as “dismemberment." Abortion-rights advocates say the procedure is safe and physicians should not face prosecution for using it.

The method, in which the fetus is removed in pieces with a surgical instrument, was used in 2,076, or 7.6%, of abortions in the state last year. It accounted for more than half of all second-trimester abortions, including 84% that were performed after the 16th week of pregnancy.

Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said she is “extremely disappointed." The ballot committee hopes to persuade canvassers that some signatures that were challenged by an abortion rights group are “obviously good,” she said.

The elections bureau said the Coalition to Protect Access to Care, which is affiliated with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, alleged that 66 signatures in the...