December 11, 2013 – Michigan lawmakers Approve Right to Life Abortion Insurance Initiative

On this day in history, Michigan lawmakers passed a measure banning all insurance plans in the state from covering abortion unless the woman’s life was considered to be in danger or unless a woman had already purchased coverage herself through a separate rider.

Not only that, but women had to buy the rider before they become pregnant in order to have abortion coverage. Women who become pregnant through rape or incest must have already had the rider in place for an abortion to be covered, leading some opponents to dub the riders as “rape insurance.”

“This tells women who were raped … that they should have thought ahead and planned for it,” said then Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) during debates. But supporters of the “Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act” argued that it allowed people who were opposed to abortion to avoid paying into a plan that covered it.

The Michigan State Legislature first passed the measure the previous year, but Governor Rick Snyder (R) vetoed it, saying he did not “believe it is appropriate to tell a woman who becomes pregnant due to a rape that she needed to select elective insurance coverage.”

The anti-abortion group “Right to Life of Michigan” was able to collect more than 300,000 voter signatures on a petition to force a second vote on the measure. Nevertheless, it was passed by both chambers, and thus the bill automatically became law, even without Snyder’s approval.

According to the Guttmacher Institute (dedicated to the advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights through an interrelated program of research, policy analysis and public education), more state abortion restrictions were enacted in 2011–2013 than in the entire previous decade. Twenty-two states enacted 70 abortion restrictions in 2013; only 2011 saw more new abortion restrictions put in place in a single year. Moreover, 205 abortion restrictions were enacted from 2011 to 2013, compared with just 189 over the previous decade (2001–2010).

Note:. The Guttmacher Institute has the latest statistics on abortion restrictions, especially those enacted after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which you can access here.

May 18, 1846 – Michigan Abolishes the Death Penalty

On this day in history, the governor of Michigan signed a statute abolishing capital punishment for first degree murder, becoming the first government in the English speaking world to do so.

The new law went into effect on March 1, 1847 and stipulated:

All murder that shall be perpetrated by means of poison or lying in wait, or any other kind of willful [sic], deliberate and premeditated killing, or which shall be committed in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate any arson, rape, robbery, or burglary, shall be deemed murder of the first degree, and shall be punished by solitary confinement at hard labor in the State Prison for Life; and all other kinds of murder shall be deemed murder of the second degree, and shall be punished by confinement in the penitentiary for life, or any term of years, at the discretion of the court trying the same.”

Treason remained a crime punishable by the death penalty in Michigan despite the 1847 abolition, but no one was ever executed under that law. In 1962 a constitutional convention passed a proposal to abolish the death penalty for all crimes in Michigan by a 108 to 3 vote.

From deathpenaltyinfo.org

At procon.org, a non-profit site “to provide resources for critical thinking and to educate without bias”, you can find a number of tables and graphs illustrating statistics on U.S. executions from 1608 to 2002, including executions by state, race, method, age, and so on. The Death Penalty Information Center provides more recent data.

According to the Michigan Bar Journal in a 2002 article explaining the history of Michigan’s adoption of the law, “Since 1998, only Communist China and the Congo have executed more people than the United States. Iraq and Iran are not far behind.”

January 26, 1837 – Michigan Joins the Union as the 26th State

Native Americans are believed to have settled in the area now called Michigan as early as 11,000 BCE. The first European to explore Michigan, the Frenchman Étienne Brûlé, came in about 1620. The area was part of Canada (New France) from 1668 to 1763. When New France was defeated in the French and Indian War, it ceded the region to Britain in 1763.

After the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War, the Treaty of Paris (1783) expanded the United States’ boundaries to include nearly all land east of the Mississippi River and south of Canada. In 1800, the Indiana Territory was created, which included most of the current state Michigan, with only the easternmost parts of the state remaining in the Northwest Territory. In 1802, when Ohio was admitted to the Union, the whole of Michigan was attached to the Territory of Indiana, and remained so until 1805, when the Territory of Michigan was established.

Stevens T. Mason, age 19, became Governor of the Michigan Territory in 1835. Mason inherited the post when both the incumbent – Lewis Cass, and the territorial secretary, Mason’s father, left the territory. 160 citizens protested the appointment by President Andrew Jackson of someone so young, so Jackson fired Mason and appointed John Horner instead. But Horner promptly died of cholera. Again Mason was put in charge, and he called for a census, a constitutional convention, and election of state officials. Further, he took command of the territorial militia and occupied disputed territories.

Stevens T. Mason

In the ensuing elections, Michiganders approved the constitution overwhelmingly, and elected Mason to be their governor. [Both the terms “Michigander” and “Michiganian” are considered correct, according to the Michigan state government. In any event, neither one could be said to be accurate, since the name Michigan is derived from the Ojibwa (Chippewa) word “meicigama” (phonetically Michi-gama) for “big water.” But Michigan sounds better than Michigam.]

In June, 1836, Congress offered statehood to Michigan on the condition that it cede Toledo to Ohio and take the Upper Peninsula in exchange. Mason, aware that President Jackson was about to distribute parts of the federal surplus to states, felt it was a fine time to join, and Michigan accepted the deal, joining the Union on this day in history.

According to a Michigan state university site, some of the names of the counties in Michigan have themes:

In 1829 the legislature set off 12 new counties, naming 8 of them for President Andrew Jackson and members of his cabinet: Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Eaton, Ingham, Van Buren.

In 1840 the legislature changed the names of 16 counties and gave 5 counties names from Ireland: Antrim, Clare, Emmet, Roscommon and Wexford.

Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, an author and Indian agent, mixed words and syllables from Native American, Arabian and Latin languages to make up Native American-sounding words for some of the 28 counties designated in 1840. They include Alcona, Allegan, Alpena, Arenac, Iosco, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Oscoda and Tuscola.

You can see the derivation of the rest of the county names here.

Michigan has a number of interesting oddities. For example, Detroit was the first U.S. city to be issued phone numbers, in 1879. It is also the only city in the U.S. where you can look South to see Canada. And it is the potato chip capital of the United States. Detroiters consume an average of 7 pounds of chips a year; the rest of the country eats 4 pounds. Perhaps most fun, the University of Michigan was originally named “Catholepistemiad.” Imagine that on game day!

The Mackinac Bridge is currently the fifth longest suspension bridge in the world. The total length of the Mackinac Bridge is 26,372 feet. The length of the suspension bridge (including anchorages) is 8,614 feet. Known as “The Mighty Mac,” it is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere. It took three years to complete and opened in 1957. The Mackinac Bridge Dedication Festival took four days in June of 1958. The Oldsmobile Company provided 103 white convertibles, which were used to transport dignitaries, Miss Michigan, and other beauty queens, including queens representing each of Michigan’s 83 counties across the bridge.

Bridge Dedication in June 1958. The Oldsmobile Company provided 103 white convertibles, which were used to transport dignitaries, Miss Michigan, and other beauty queens from each of Michigan’s 83 counties. (Photo: Courtesy of Beth Dippel)