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Michigan's Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill on Wednesday that will require women to purchase additional insurance should they someday want abortion coverage. Democrats dubbed the initiative "rape insurance," as it would require a rape victim to have purchased abortion coverage prior to her rape. Michigan Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Wittmer said the bill “tells women who are raped … that they should have thought ahead and bought special insurance for it.”

The bill requires insurance plans to offer a separate rider for abortion. Women will need to purchase this rider in advance — you can't buy it after getting pregnant, even if that pregnancy was a result of rape or incest.

Debate on the floor was emotional. Wittmer confessed that she was raped in college during her speech urging her colleagues to reconsider the bill:

“I’m about to tell you something I’ve not shared with many people in my life. But over 20 years ago I was a victim of rape. And thank god it didn’t result in a pregnancy. Because I can’t imagine going through what I went through and then having to consider what to do about an unwanted pregnancy from an attacker. And as a mother with two girls, the thought that they would ever go through something like I did keeps me up at night. I thought this was all behind me. You know how tough I can be — the thought and the memory of that still haunts me. If this were law then and I had become pregnant, I would not be able to have coverage because of this. How extreme does this measure need to be? I’m not the only woman in our state that has faced that horrible circumstance. I am not enjoying talking about it. It's something I've kept hidden for a long time. I think you need to see the face of the women you are impacting by this vote today.”

Democratic State Sen. Rebekah Warren similarly pleaded with colleagues to reject the initiative. She proposed that the legislature “send this to the ballot next November for all of Michigan citizens to decide.”