Jocelyn Benson on Anniversary of the Overturn of Roe v. Wade: “Rights are Only as Strong as the Leaders Responsible for Upholding Them”
Jocelyn Benson on Anniversary of the Overturn of Roe v. Wade: “Rights are Only as Strong as the Leaders Responsible for Upholding Them”
In an op-ed in the Detroit News, Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson and Reproductive Freedom for All Director of Michigan Campaigns Shanay Watson-Whittaker marked the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision by reaffirming their commitment to protecting the reproductive freedoms of all Michiganders.
Key point: “Michigan citizens may have enshrined these rights into law, but rights are only as strong as the leaders responsible for upholding them. The next governor and legislature will determine whether Michigan strengthens protections and access to care.”
In case you missed it…
The Detroit News: 4 years after Dobbs, Michigan’s fight for reproductive rights continues
[Jocelyn Benson and Shanay Watson-Whittaker, 6/24/2026]
Four years ago today the Supreme Court ruled that women across our country no longer have a right to critical, lifesaving reproductive care, including abortion. This is a matter of life and death for millions of women. We’ve all seen the cost of these draconian bans: women unable to access legal health care, families forced to cross state lines, young girls forced to carry pregnancies to term. That cannot happen in Michigan. Access to reproductive care is what keeps our mothers, daughters, and sisters safe. It’s what allows women to build careers, start businesses, and fulfill their dreams.
That is why in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, both of us worked with leaders across our state to make sure no Michigan woman would ever have to risk her health or her life to get medical care. That included successfully amending our state constitution to establish a right to reproductive care and working with Democrats in the state legislature to repeal the 1931 abortion ban so that there are no hurdles to getting critical care and services.
But our work isn’t done. Michigan has seen access to reproductive care erode through the closure of hospitals, clinics, and Planned Parenthood facilities across the state — including the only facility in the Upper Peninsula where women were able to get their yearly check-ups, cancer screenings, and necessary prescriptions. The Trump administration took away the federal right to abortion, and now they are systematically working to strip women of access to emergency reproductive care even when their lives are on the line.
Michigan citizens may have enshrined these rights into law, but rights are only as strong as the leaders responsible for upholding them. The next governor and legislature will determine whether Michigan strengthens protections and access to care.
That's why we are speaking out today — and why we are calling on every Michigander who believes in reproductive freedom to do the same. This November, we need to elect leaders up and down the ballot who understand what's at stake: governors who will be the last line of defense, legislators who won't flinch, and a coalition strong enough to ensure our citizens’ constitutional rights and protections are made real for everyone.
Michigan voters have spoken: they want to live in a state where health care – including reproductive care – is accessible and affordable for all. We will fight to make that happen.
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