A new Postindustrial columnist and director of Progress Michigan, a nonprofit communications advocacy and government watchdog organization, speaks out against recent Planned Parenthood closures in his state.
Fight like hell––that’s what we were promised.
Michigan Democratic Gov.Gretchen Whitmer ran on that slogan in 2022 for how she would protect our reproductive freedom. I stood by her in Kalamazoo at many events rallying for reproductive freedom and supporting that push with my own campaign for the State House.
That year, Michigan voters passed a constitutional amendment to protect these freedoms while our federal government was doing everything to take away abortion access. But now, as Planned Parenthood announces that clinics are closing across the state, Michiganders are asking what exactly we’re fighting for.
Our lawmakers need to be serious about protecting healthcare and reproductive freedom. The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have intentionally hamstrung Planned Parenthood with funding cuts that compromise their ability to provide care to their patients. And since then, Republican lawmakers in Michigan have doubled down on those cuts via their own state budget.
While Republican lawmakers have always led the way in the fight against reproductive freedom, some of the blame for this crisis belongs to the Whitmer administration.
This May, Gov. Whitmer declined to use her executive power to provide emergency funding for Planned Parenthood. Her decision went against the will of the public, 56 % of whom supported delivering this funding, and her own purported values as a champion of reproductive freedom.
To be sure, Gov. Whitmer has signed multiple bills into law that protect abortion access, including the Reproductive Health Act. This action repealed an archaic 1931 law that criminalized nurses and doctors for prescribing medication abortion, including the safe and effective mifepristone.
Whitmer even used her executive power last year to have state agencies instruct hospitals to continue providing reproductive care after the Dobbs decision––which makes it all the more confusing as to why she declined to take steps to prevent further clinic closures.
We knew this was coming. On May 13, 2026, Planned Parenthood of Michigan (PPMI) sent Gov. Whitmer a letter warning her that without state funding, they’d be forced to close additional clinics (they closed three last year). It mentioned that other Democratic governors, including Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Maine Governor Janet Mills, used similar executive authority to close the federal funding gaps for clinics in their state.
PPMI appealed to Whitmer that, “Michigan has that same authority, and we are calling on you to use it.” Unfortunately, this letter was as effective as talking to a brick wall.
There have been other disappointing moves from the Whitmer administration this summer, from her photo op with AI oligarch Sam Altman at a controversial data center groundbreaking despite a growing consensus against these facilities, to the approval of a fossil fuel permit for foreign oil company Enbridge.
Gov. Whitmer also vetoed critical workforce and pension bills that were held up by House Speaker Matt Hall and his extremist allies and litigated in court by the state senate, AFL-CIO, UAW, and MEA, calling this “an insult to every hard-working Michigander fighting for economic justice.”
As our federal government rolls back basic protections for our health and safety, we need our state leaders to stand up for us––not wealthy corporations. And this is exactly what voters are craving this November.
Our policymakers have an obligation and a clear mandate from voters to defend reproductive freedom.
Thousands of people across Michigan rely on Planned Parenthood for things like birth control, prenatal care, and STI testing— and both Whitmer and the Republican Party are complicit in cutting them off from that care.
Our lawmakers are falling flat exactly when Michiganders need them most.
Justin Mendoza is the executive director of Progress Michigan, a nonprofit communications advocacy and government watchdog organization.
