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Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, left, speaks in this 2011 file photo.

(Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com)

CITIZENS INITIATIVE

How it's done:

"In order to exercise the right to initiate legislation (initiative), a citizen or group must secure, on petitions, the signatures of registered electors in an amount not less than 8 percent of the total vote cast for all candidates for governor at the last gubernatorial election."

What the Legislature can do:

"...The legislature has 40 days from the time it receives the petition to enact or reject the proposed law or to propose a different measure on the same question. If not enacted, the original initiative proposal and any different measure passed by the legislature must go before the voters as a ballot proposal."

How often it's happened:

"...There have been five instances of the legislature approving initiatives proposed by the citizens, which eliminated the need for the measures to go before voters. These citizen-initiated and legislature approved acts were 1964 PA 2, 1987 PA 59, 1990 PA 211, 2004 PA 135, and 2006 PA 325."

Source: 2009-10 Michigan Manual

LANSING, MI -- State Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer on Monday blasted an abortion insurance bill backed by Right to Life of Michigan, suggesting it would force women to decide whether they want to purchase "rape insurance."

The citizen-initiated legislation, headed to the Legislature after the Board of State Canvassers certified an estimated 299,941 signatures collected by the nonprofit, would prohibit insurers from including abortion coverage as a standard feature in health plans they sell in Michigan.

Women who want abortion coverage could still obtain it by purchasing a separate rider. Employers who choose to offer abortion coverage would be required to inform all employees of that decision.

"Forcing women to decide whether they want to buy 'rape insurance' and even compelling parents to make the unfathomable decision about whether to buy it for their daughters is truly despicable," Whitmer, D-East Lansing, said in a release. "Requiring Michigan women to plan ahead for an unplanned pregnancy is not only illogical, it's one of the most misogynistic proposals I have ever seen in the Michigan Legislature."

The clock is ticking for Republican leaders in the state House and Senate, who have 40 days to decide whether or not they will take up the bill. House Speaker Jase Bolger of Marshall and Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville of Monroe have not yet made any final decisions, according to spokespersons.

Legislative approval would make the bill law, bypassing the veto pen of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who rejected a similar measure last year -- in part because it did not make exceptions for rape or incest. If lawmakers do not act within 40 days, the proposal would head to the statewide ballot in 2014.

Democrats are the minority party in both chambers and would not be able to stop the bill from becoming law, but they've promised a robust floor debate if Republicans decide to take it up, as evidenced by Whitmer's comments.

Right to Life of Michigan has promoted the proposal as a way to ensure that taxpayer-subsidized policies available under the Affordable Care Act do not include abortion coverage as a standard feature. However, the bill would apply to any insurance plan sold in Michigan, whether or not it was offered on an Obamacare exchange.

"Michigan citizens do not want to pay for someone else's abortion with their tax dollars or health insurance premiums," Right to Life President Barbara Listing said Monday. "Abortion is not health care; abortion kills a living, developing human being."

The nonprofit has scheduled a press conference for Tuesday morning at the Michigan Capitol that will feature "sexual assault victims and individuals conceived in rape" who represent Save the 1, a national group that argues against exceptions in abortion policies.

"Save the 1 members advocate on behalf of themselves and others like them who have experienced the social biases and stigma that promote abortion as an appropriate, even desirable response to pregnancy resulting from rape," according to a Right to Life release.

Right to Life volunteers collected upwards of 315,000 signatures for the citizen-initiated bill, and lobbyists for the organization say that a majority of Michigan lawmakers also signed the petition.

Still, critics point out that those signatures represent only three percent of the state's population, and they are urging lawmakers to let voters decide the issue in 2014.

Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group. Email him, find him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter.