“In November, Michiganders sent a clear message: we deserve to make our own decisions about our own bodies,” Whitmer said. “Today, we are coming together to repeal the extreme 1931 law banning abortion without exceptions for rape or incest and criminalizing nurses and doctors for doing their jobs.”

The bills to repeal were among the first introduced under the Democrats' legislative trifecta in January.

Sen. Erika Geiss, D-Taylor, who was a sponsor of the bill said the repeal was a long time coming. 

“Today marks a culmination of a years-long attempt since 2018 when I introduced the first bill in the Michigan legislature aimed at repealing the anti-abortion, anti-contraception, anti-reproductive health laws from 1931,” Geiss said in a statement. “Last June, we learned that Roe was not protected. Today, in Michigan however, reproductive freedom, access to abortion, and the bodily autonomy to control one’s reproductive health are.” 

Upon the ban’s repeal, Michigan became one of 11 states to codify abortion rights in the months following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that removed protections provided by Roe v. Wade for abortion at the national level.

The signing of the repeal follows the passage of Proposal 3 last November, when voters overwhelmingly approved the constitutional amendment which enshrines rights around reproduction, including the right to an abortion, into Michigan's Constitution.

Speaker Pro Tempore Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, said that she was grateful to see the process complete.

“Last year Michiganders made it clear that they want abortion to remain safe and legal, and while there is still much work to be done to ensure abortion is accessible to everyone in our state, repealing the 1931 criminal abortion ban once and for all is the first step in that process," Pohutsky said.

Whitmer was joined at the signing event in Birmingham by the sponsors of the bills and representatives from various abortion rights groups, including Planned Parenthood and EMILY’s List.