Rep. Jamie Thompson pushes for abortion ban opposed by majority of voters in her district

In November 2022, 57% of voters in the Michigan House of Representatives District 28 voted for a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to reproductive freedom, according to reporting by news site The ‘Gander. Jamie Thompson, the district’s Republican state representative, continues to work to revoke that right and supports a near-total abortion ban.

Thompson narrowly won an open seat in the House in the 2022 election by a margin of 51%-49% and is currently seeking a second term representing the Downriver-area district. Her Democratic opponent, Janise O’Neil Robinson, says on her campaign website, “I consider myself pro-child, pro-woman, and pro-choice, and I will support and trust women to make these decisions with their partners, families, and medical staff – not politicians.”

After Michigan approved the Reproductive Freedom for All ballot measure in a 57%-43% statewide vote and elected new Democratic majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature, lawmakers passed a package of bills in 2023 aimed at implementing reproductive rights. 

“The Reproductive Health Act lowers costs for patients and providers and protects every Michigander’s constitutional right to make their own decisions about their own body,” Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a press release after signing it into law. “For decades, Michigan has had politically motivated, medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion in state law. These politically motivated, medically unnecessary laws criminalized doctors for providing medical care, jacked up out-of-pocket costs for patients, and imposed needless regulations on health centers, forcing many to close. The RHA repeals these laws, taking a huge step forward to expand access to health care and protect people’s personal freedoms.”

Thompson, who had opposed the 2022 constitutional amendment on social media, voted against the bills codifying the right to an abortion and amending state law to comply with it. 

Thomspon’s campaign website makes no mention of abortion. However, she told both Right to Life of Michigan and the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated anti-LGBTQ hate group, that she agreed with them that, as Right to Life phrased it, “A candidate must be prolife with no exceptions other than the life of the mother.”

In an August 2022 post on her Facebook page, Thompson called for Planned Parenthood to be defunded. Nationally, in addition to performing abortions, for which by law it receives no federal government funding, Planned Parenthood provided health care for more than 2 million patients in 2023, including birth control, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and cancer screening and prevention. 

Thompson’s legislative record leans far to the right in other areas as well. Even after multiple mass shootings at Michigan schools, she voted against gun safety laws and pushed to roll back existing firearms restrictions.

She voted against repealing Michigan’s so-called right-to-work laws, which undermined collective bargaining by allowing workers to opt out of joining and paying fees to the unions that negotiate their benefits. The laws were repealed in 2023.