The majority of the evening’s discussion revolved around a law approved by the Michigan legislature in December requiring women to purchase additional coverage to have abortions covered by their health care provider.

Whitmer said “ultimately, we’ve got to change the law,” but noted it was unlikely to occur this year. She said the Republican-controlled legislature’s recent actions were “a continual assault on women and women’s rights.”

She said misogynistic behavior has become commonplace in the Capitol, citing the censure of former female state Reps. Barb Byrum, D-Onondaga, and Lisa Brown, D-West Bloomfield, in 2012. Brown was silenced for using the word vagina on the House floor.

The law was introduced to the Michigan legislature through voter petition circulated by a pro-life interest group. The Board of State Canvassers certified almost 300,000 signatures from voters around the state in December and submitted the petition to the legislature as a bill.

The bill was approved by both chambers of the legislature with universal support from Republicans in both chambers.

During discussion of the bill on the house floor, Whitmer publicly revealed that she had been raped when she was a student at MSU. She said it was not something that she had ever wanted to talk about again.

“Thank God I did not become pregnant because of that attack, because if I had I would’ve been faced with a really tough decision … of a woman who never could have anticipated the possibility that she would need abortion coverage,” she said.

Because the bill was introduced through petition, it became law without the signature of Governor Rick Snyder, who had previously vetoed similar legislation.

Whitmer urged the audience to “take on and champion progressive ideas,” that were about “equality for all in the state of Michigan.”

Despite the overtly pro-choice message of the event, informally titled “Rape Insurance WTF?” there was some opposition in the audience.

A number of members from MSU Students for Life were present, but did not speak during the question-and-answer session.

The organization’s president, Lisa Jankowski, said she thought the law was not accurately represented by those opposed to it.

“They’re spinning it (to appear like) we’re making women pay for insurance in the case that they get raped,” Jankowski said. “We don’t believe that it is morally correct or right for us to have to pay for health insurance for abortion, a cause that we literally do not support, fight against supporting every day on campus (and) off campus.”

The pro-life group’s vice president Natalie Collins said the outcry the legislation has received is unwarranted, because the bill was “meant to protect people, rather than hurt them.”

MSU economics professor Lisa Cook was at the discussion and said the law goes against the fundamental economics of insurance.

“This bifurcation, segmentation of markets is not sustainable,” Cook said. “You can’t have insurance for older people and insurance for younger people, you have to have the largest pool possible.”