An 84-year-old pro-life volunteer was shot in Michigan on September 20 as she was leaving a residence where she had been handing out pamphlets, according to ABC13 local news affiliate.
The Right to Life activist was shot in the back and shoulder by an unidentified person after an argument at the residence about an upcoming ballot initiative that would give unresricted access to abortion in the state.
“The man who shot her was not a part of her conversation,” a press release by the organization said.
She drove herself to the Lake Odessa Police Department and was then treated at the hospital for her wounds and released, police said.
State police investigating
“The victim is still recovering from her gunshot wound and wishes to remain anonymous while the criminal investigation proceeds,” the release noted.
She could not identify the shooter.
The state police are now investigating the incident and plan to send their findings to Ionia County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which will handle any criminal charges.
Ballot provision pending
The Reproductive Freedom for All ballot petition will be on the ballot in November after getting a record number of signatures. It would amend Michigan’s constitution to make abortion a right.
It reads in part, “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.”
It does allow the state to “regulate abortion care after fetal viability,” but has exceptions that include protecting the “mental health of the mother,” which generally can be used to justify any abortion at any time during the pregnancy.
Michigan’s current abortion rights stem from a judge’s move to block a 1931 abortion ban.
The ballot petition is an attempt to protect state rights to abortion after Roe V. Wade’s federal protection was removed by the Supreme Court in June.