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otherkinnewsContent warnings: About access to abortions. Rated PG-13.
Disclaimer: For historical purposes, this article collects some recent events that have been in the news about bills and court cases. All of this is publicly available information. The writers of this article are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice. For legal advice, you must consult with your lawyer.
Summary: Michigan’s state constitution generally protects access to abortion, especially if it’s medically indicated by a physical or mental health condition. Michigan House Bill 4105 specifies some mental health conditions that would count. The list includes dissociative disorders, such as DID. This looks like it's for protecting pregnant people's access to abortion, rather than forcing them to have one, though it doesn't talk about that. Our article about this is about two pages long, including sources referenced.
[Edited to add on May 1, 2023: In the couple days since I wrote this article, my impression of this bill has changed completely. See this post's comments, where we've been exploring it. The bill was written by Republicans who call themselves pro-life. Although they wrote the bill to sound like it further protects access to abortion, it would instead place additional limits on access to abortion. In other social media platforms where we've discussed it, several readers have remarked that the bill sounds like eugenics against people who have any sort of mental health diagnosis.]
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In the US state of Michigan, on February 15, six representatives of the state introduced House Bill 4105. These six sponsors were Representatives Angela Rigas, Gina Johnsen, Nancy DeBoer, Mark Tisdel, Andrew Fink, and Gregory Alexander. All of them are Republicans. MI HB 4105 says it is “A bill to describe certain policies and procedures for determining whether an abortion is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of a pregnant individual under section 28 of article I of the state constitution of 1963.”
This refers to a section in Michigan’s constitution that is all about reproductive rights. Its constitution says, “Every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including but not limited to [...] abortion care [...] An individual’s right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, burdened, nor infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means. Notwithstanding the above, the state may regulate the provision of abortion care after fetal viability, provided that in no circumstance shall the state prohibit an abortion that, in the professional judgment of an attending health care professional, is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual [...] ‘Fetal viability’ means: the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of an attending health care professional and based on the particular facts of the case, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’s sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.” (Art. I §28(1-2, 6)). Michigan statutes will generally protect people’s freedom to make their own reproductive choices. The constitution and the bill both use the words “pregnant individuals” rather than “women.” This inclusive language causes less trouble for people who are transgender or intersex.
The bill names some conditions in which abortion would be medically indicated. About physical health, it leaves that to be determined by the attending health care professional, without giving specific examples of conditions (HB 4105 §1(a,b)). About mental health, the bill says, “An abortion is medically indicated to protect the mental health of the pregnant individual if the pregnant individual was diagnosed with a serious mental condition before the pregnant individual's pregnancy. As used in this subdivision, ‘serious mental condition’ means 1 or more of the following …” (§1(c)). Then the bill gives a list of some specific conditions or families of conditions, one of which is “A dissociative disorder” (§1(c)(ix)).
Dissociative disorders are a family of conditions. One type of dissociative disorder is Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder. DID is recognized in the DSM-5 and ICD-11. DID is one form of plurality. Plurality is an umbrella term for any experience of more than one person in one body all the time, regardless of what sorts of challenges they have with that, or how their plurality began. Not all plural systems have the eligibility or the desire to be diagnosed with DID. Plural systems are one of many sorts of people who can opt in to being included under the alterhuman umbrella, together with otherkin, therianthropes, furries, and more. The Plural Association nonprofit found that 81.5% of plural systems have nonhuman headmates. Many plural systems have something in common with otherkin, who identify as nonhuman beings.
This bill would protect access to abortions for people who had already been diagnosed with DID before they got pregnant, if they need an abortion to protect their mental health. The constitution and the bill don't look like they would force anyone to get an abortion who doesn’t want one. The language in the bill doesn’t mention anything about the pregnant person’s own choice if a health provider decides that an abortion is medically indicated by their mental health condition.
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References
The Constitution of the State of Michigan of 1963. Michigan Legislature. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Publications/MIConstitution.pdf Archived October 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20221016094043/http://www.legislature.mi.gov/Publications/MIConstitution.pdf
MI HB 4105. Michigan Legislature. http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2023-HB-4105 Archived April 29, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230430002914/http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(l4pvsh55etgy0g40a3vljko4))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=2023-HB-4105
MI HB 4105. LegiScan. https://legiscan.com/MI/bill/HB4105/2023 Archived February 15, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230215233535/https://legiscan.com/MI/bill/HB4105/2023
The Plural Association (January 19, 2023). “We held a poll in which 200 people with DID participated…” Twitter. https://twitter.com/TpaNonprofit/status/1616311566118572033 Archived April 29, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230430002806/https://twitter.com/TpaNonprofit/status/1616311566118572033
Disclaimer: For historical purposes, this article collects some recent events that have been in the news about bills and court cases. All of this is publicly available information. The writers of this article are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice. For legal advice, you must consult with your lawyer.
Summary: Michigan’s state constitution generally protects access to abortion, especially if it’s medically indicated by a physical or mental health condition. Michigan House Bill 4105 specifies some mental health conditions that would count. The list includes dissociative disorders, such as DID. This looks like it's for protecting pregnant people's access to abortion, rather than forcing them to have one, though it doesn't talk about that. Our article about this is about two pages long, including sources referenced.
[Edited to add on May 1, 2023: In the couple days since I wrote this article, my impression of this bill has changed completely. See this post's comments, where we've been exploring it. The bill was written by Republicans who call themselves pro-life. Although they wrote the bill to sound like it further protects access to abortion, it would instead place additional limits on access to abortion. In other social media platforms where we've discussed it, several readers have remarked that the bill sounds like eugenics against people who have any sort of mental health diagnosis.]
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In the US state of Michigan, on February 15, six representatives of the state introduced House Bill 4105. These six sponsors were Representatives Angela Rigas, Gina Johnsen, Nancy DeBoer, Mark Tisdel, Andrew Fink, and Gregory Alexander. All of them are Republicans. MI HB 4105 says it is “A bill to describe certain policies and procedures for determining whether an abortion is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of a pregnant individual under section 28 of article I of the state constitution of 1963.”
This refers to a section in Michigan’s constitution that is all about reproductive rights. Its constitution says, “Every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including but not limited to [...] abortion care [...] An individual’s right to reproductive freedom shall not be denied, burdened, nor infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means. Notwithstanding the above, the state may regulate the provision of abortion care after fetal viability, provided that in no circumstance shall the state prohibit an abortion that, in the professional judgment of an attending health care professional, is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual [...] ‘Fetal viability’ means: the point in pregnancy when, in the professional judgment of an attending health care professional and based on the particular facts of the case, there is a significant likelihood of the fetus’s sustained survival outside the uterus without the application of extraordinary medical measures.” (Art. I §28(1-2, 6)). Michigan statutes will generally protect people’s freedom to make their own reproductive choices. The constitution and the bill both use the words “pregnant individuals” rather than “women.” This inclusive language causes less trouble for people who are transgender or intersex.
The bill names some conditions in which abortion would be medically indicated. About physical health, it leaves that to be determined by the attending health care professional, without giving specific examples of conditions (HB 4105 §1(a,b)). About mental health, the bill says, “An abortion is medically indicated to protect the mental health of the pregnant individual if the pregnant individual was diagnosed with a serious mental condition before the pregnant individual's pregnancy. As used in this subdivision, ‘serious mental condition’ means 1 or more of the following …” (§1(c)). Then the bill gives a list of some specific conditions or families of conditions, one of which is “A dissociative disorder” (§1(c)(ix)).
Dissociative disorders are a family of conditions. One type of dissociative disorder is Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder. DID is recognized in the DSM-5 and ICD-11. DID is one form of plurality. Plurality is an umbrella term for any experience of more than one person in one body all the time, regardless of what sorts of challenges they have with that, or how their plurality began. Not all plural systems have the eligibility or the desire to be diagnosed with DID. Plural systems are one of many sorts of people who can opt in to being included under the alterhuman umbrella, together with otherkin, therianthropes, furries, and more. The Plural Association nonprofit found that 81.5% of plural systems have nonhuman headmates. Many plural systems have something in common with otherkin, who identify as nonhuman beings.
This bill would protect access to abortions for people who had already been diagnosed with DID before they got pregnant, if they need an abortion to protect their mental health. The constitution and the bill don't look like they would force anyone to get an abortion who doesn’t want one. The language in the bill doesn’t mention anything about the pregnant person’s own choice if a health provider decides that an abortion is medically indicated by their mental health condition.
-
References
The Constitution of the State of Michigan of 1963. Michigan Legislature. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Publications/MIConstitution.pdf Archived October 16, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20221016094043/http://www.legislature.mi.gov/Publications/MIConstitution.pdf
MI HB 4105. Michigan Legislature. http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?2023-HB-4105 Archived April 29, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230430002914/http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(l4pvsh55etgy0g40a3vljko4))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=2023-HB-4105
MI HB 4105. LegiScan. https://legiscan.com/MI/bill/HB4105/2023 Archived February 15, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230215233535/https://legiscan.com/MI/bill/HB4105/2023
The Plural Association (January 19, 2023). “We held a poll in which 200 people with DID participated…” Twitter. https://twitter.com/TpaNonprofit/status/1616311566118572033 Archived April 29, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230430002806/https://twitter.com/TpaNonprofit/status/1616311566118572033
