LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan anti-abortion advocates are targeting a common second-trimester abortion procedure, pushing bills in the Republican-led Legislature to prohibit what they say is "dismemberment" of a fetus.
Similar criminal bans have been approved in two other states, Kansas and Oklahoma, where they temporarily are on hold after court rulings. The Michigan legislation was the subject of a hearing this week and could advance this fall.
The procedure, called dilation and evacuation, accounted for 8 percent of Michigan's reported abortions in 2014. The bill would provide an exception if a physician determines the procedure is necessary to save a woman's life.
Abortion opponents say the procedure is cruel and there are alternatives.
Abortion rights advocates say the legislation is unconstitutional and would ban one of the safest and more common abortion methods.
Michigan bills would ban second-term abortion procedure
