Abortion non-vote: What was that all about?

[COMMENTARY] You may have read the story from my colleague Alexa Stanard after word began circulating on Thursday that House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, was about to force a vote on Michigan Senate Bill 776. SB 776 prohibits a rarely used, yet medically necessary abortion method and does not provide an exception to protect a woman’s health.

The buzz about that possible vote under the dome triggered phone calls aplenty between editors and reporters, reporters and their sources at the Capitol and a string of e-mails from groups opposing the so-called “partial-birth abortion bill.”

My phone went ringing off the hook, and I got several e-mails like the one from Progress Michigan urging all of us to “Tell House Speaker Dillon: Stop Pandering to Anti-choice Forces and Stand Up for Women.”

Continued -It went on to say: “Our state legislators, including House Speaker Andy Dillon, are cowering to anti-choice forces that seek to limit a woman’s access to reproductive healthcare in Michigan. State legislators are pushing through an unnecessary and wasteful bill, which would prohibit abortion methods that were already banned by the ultra-conservative U.S. Supreme Court.” And of course it urged us to call our reps and tell them “to stop wasting our tax dollars on an issue designed only to pander to anti-choice forces and attack women in an election year.”

When I checked about noontime, House members were scheduled to have a quiet afternoon (at least that’s what one staffer told me). Typically on the last day of session before a long holiday weekend, lawmakers tend to clear up a few pending matters and head for the hills, or in the case of our state, the lake.

But then there was all the hoopla about a vote on 776, then a late afternoon report that the House was “at ease” (a political term meaning that this has just gotten out of hand and we all need to go to the back room, close the door and talk about this). Then just after 5 p.m. the House adjourned for the day without taking a vote on SB 776.

Now this bill has been sitting in the pile of things to do for quite a while.

So why did this transpire Thursday?

You read in Stanard’s article about the e-mail in which the Lansing-based Citizens for Traditional Values said Dillon had “personally (face-to-face) assured” Right to Life Michigan President Barb Listing that the bill would come to a vote this week.
Was that the reason?

Others speculate that with Dillon under the threat of a recall, he may have made the move to appease the other side of the aisle.
Was that the reason?

Still others speculate the object of the game was to get it in under the radar, hoping because it was the last day of session before the holiday weekend, no one would notice. And when people did and the public reaction started pouring in, the vote never came.

Was that the reason?

My vote is for reason No. 3. Dillon promised a vote to Citizens for Traditional Values and thought the Thursday afternoon before the holiday weekend was an ideal way to send it through without being noticed. I guess he figured we would all be at the bank getting financing to buy $4-a-gallon gas for our cars and trying to figure out if we had enough left to afford the rising cost of hamburgers and hot dogs, and we wouldn’t notice.

But I guess Dillon forgot that the only thing faster than the rising cost of gas is the speed of e-mails and phone calls when people are watching our elected officials and don’t like what is going on.

Will this issue now come up when lawmakers return on Tuesday? That is the next good question. We will find out the answer after we enjoy our holiday weekend.