Latest news with #Pohutsky
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Michigan lawmakers decry federal deployments in California, urge non-violent ‘No Kings' protest
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents face off against protesters during an ICE raid at Ambiance Apparel in Downtown Los Angeles on June 6, 2025. Photo by J.W. Hendricks for CalMatters Two Democratic members of the Michigan House of Representatives on Tuesday called for non-violent action this Saturday, June 14, when a nationwide protest movement plans to hold rallies against the administration of President Donald Trump and its recent actions to detain and deport large numbers of immigrants. The call to action comes after a weekend of chaos in Los Angeles and Paramount, California, where protesters formed a resistance response to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. The protests began peacefully but escalated as law enforcement descended on the cities to quell the uprisings. Protests were planned on June 14 before the weekend's events played out in California. But organizers of the Michigan Resistance Coalition in a virtual call Tuesday said the scenes out of the Golden State further emphasized the need for the No Kings movement to be a peaceful opposition force. 'Let me be clear, what we're seeing from the Trump administration is not law and order. It's state sponsored terror,' said Ken Whittaker, the executive director of Michigan United Action. 'When ICE agents dressed as military commandos kick in doors and drag people away under the cover of night, that's not law enforcement, that's a war on the people.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Whitaker warned that Trump's deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines to California was a massive overreach and noted that those individuals were trained for war, not non-violent protests or civil disobedience. Michigan Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) said she is the daughter of a man who served in World War II and helped liberate a Nazi Germany concentration camp. In that vein, she said she was raised to not stand idly by while dictators weaponize a government against its own citizens, as she said Trump is doing now with those who stand up against ICE while they conduct raids. 'We are witnessing something that I hoped we would never see in America, the U.S. military and immigration agents in full military gear on the streets of a major city targeting protesters and the media,' Pohutsky said. 'Let me be crystal clear: We unequivocally condemn any violence. That has no place in our movement for peace and justice. Everyone should use their voice peacefully, but the Trump administration intentionally provoked the situation by sending a force of armed and armored agents to round up immigrant workers.' Pohutsky said the Trump administration is sending waves of armed forces and armed agents to round up immigrant workers, day laborers, garments employees and others all without warrants – a far cry from the gang members and criminals Trump said he'd focus on when making campaign promises for mass deportations. 'These are people working hard to provide for their families. They aren't dangerous. They're our neighbors and they're our friends,' Pohutsky said. 'The cruelty is the point. Trump and his movement have been clear. He has said repeatedly that he wanted to send in troops against protesters. The MAGA think tank, the Center for Renewing America, wrote a playbook for doing exactly what we are seeing today, using immigration enforcement to provoke confrontation and then using that as a pretext to send in troops against our own citizens.' It was noted that labor leaders are also becoming targets of ICE, as SEIU President David Huerta was recently detained for protesting ICE activity in Los Angeles. 'This is a wholesale assault on political opposition, and I want to underline this,' Pohutsky said. 'Trump's order sending in troops does not just apply to Los Angeles or California. It applies to the whole country.' State Rep. Carrie Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor) said she has been worried about this very scenario since Trump was elected to his second term. 'He laid it out in his campaign that he was going to take any excuse he can to use the military to target civilians,' Rhiengans said. 'It's wrong. It's un-American, and we have to stand up against it.' She also called on Michigan residents to join the No Kings protests on June 14, which is also Trump's birthday. 'They're counting on us,' she said. 'They elected us to represent them, and we, all Republicans and Democrats, swore an oath to the United States Constitution, and it's our duty to defend and protect it.' While some Democrats in Michigan called for further demonstrations, Republicans in Congress and the state Legislature called for new ways to curtail protesters and to create a pathway for local law enforcement to assist ICE. On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland), reintroduced the 'Clear the ROADS Act,' which is a direct response to protests unlawfully obstructing traffic on local roads and highways. In a news release, Huizenga said news reports have highlighted that a freeway was shut down by protesters in Los Angeles. The bill would provide the Trump administration with another tool to hold states accountable when federally-funded roadways are 'overrun by these dangerous roadblocking activities.' 'If states are neglecting their duties to keep their federal taxpayer-funded roads free from these traffic-obstructing actions, then federal taxpayer funds should be withheld from those states,' Huizenga said in a statement. 'My legislation recognizes that endangering the free flow of ambulances, fire trucks, and other drivers is not an option. Based on Gov. Gavin Newsom's handling of the recent road-blocking riots in California, the Clear the ROADS Act would provide President Trump … with the ability to penalize California's access to roughly 400 million in taxpayer-funded federal transportation dollars.' Huizenga's bill would: Withhold 10% of a State's federal highway funds if the State has not made reasonable efforts to prohibit the reckless obstruction of lawful vehicle traffic on their federal-aid eligible roadways; and Require the Secretary of Transportation to annually certify whether a State has met this requirement prior to federal highway funds being apportioned. In Michigan, state Rep. Josh Schriver (R-Oxford) introduced a resolution calling on local governments to cooperate with ICE in enforcing federal immigration law. The resolution was described as a direct response to the California protests. In early May, Schriver and several of his Michigan House Freedom Caucus colleagues introduced House Bill 4472. The bill would create a task force to develop policies on 'orderly removal' and deportation of immigrants from Michigan. It was referred to the House Government Operations Committee – which is known as the place where bills go to die – and has yet to receive a committee hearing. Michigan Advance asked Pohutsky and Rheingans about the measures and what kind of friction ICE action has caused with House Republicans who control the chamber. Pohutsky said that the resolutions or policies that have been brought up by House Republicans have been 'heinously anti-immigrant,' but weren't terribly well-though out and don't get funding. 'It talks about, in some cases, requiring local units of government to comply with ICE, with no clear direction about what complying actually means, whether or not law enforcement even has the ability in these areas to comply with ICE,' she said. 'That doesn't even begin to take into account the human toll. And you know what? These folks who are our neighbors contribute to our communities, and what the communities want in terms of their neighbors.' Pohutsky mentioned that the House is bearing down on its self-imposed July 1 deadline for having its budget ready to present for final passage, but no such budget bill has emerged from House Republicans. 'We need to be working on things that will actually help people, not targeting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities,' she said. Rheingans said House Bill 4472 would, in effect, create a Michigan Gestapo focused squarely on immigration enforcement. 'You're seeing this extremism play out not only in resolutions, but also in bills, and these things are going to run up the tab in our state,' she said. 'It is important to make sure that we keep track of what Republicans are doing, and not just what they're saying. They're trying to run up the tab, waste our money and target people that they don't like, and it's not right. That's dictatorial and authoritarian behavior. And there are no kings in America.'
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Following Trump pardons of anti-abortion protestors, Pohutsky introduces clinic obstruction bills
Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) speaks ahead of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signing the last bill in the Reproductive Health Act in Lansing on Dec. 11, 2023. (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols) After 23 people convicted of obstructing access to reproductive health care clinics received federal pardons from President Donald Trump in January, Michigan House Democrats are introducing legislation to create criminal penalties for such action in state law. The anti-abortion protestors, several of which were from Michigan, were charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, a federal law that criminalizes obstruction or threats of force with the goal of interfering with access to reproductive health care services. With Trump offering the pardons and his administration directing federal prosecutors in January to ease up on enforcement, directing authorities outside of 'extraordinary circumstances' to address actions using local laws. As the future of the FACE Act is unsure, Michigan state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) said she introduced a state version last week in order to preserve protections for patients seeking out reproductive health care and the employees who help offer such services. House Bills 4133 and 4134, would ban individuals from restricting people's physical movement or threatening bodily harm as they attempt to obtain or provide services from facilities offering reproductive health care. 'If you end up feeling too intimidated or physically cannot get into the building because someone is blocking you from doing so, that can be disastrous for the care you're looking to seek,' Pohutsky said. 'It also makes staff and providers feel unsafe… so then there's an access issue on that front as well.' There already is a clear need in Michigan to ensure the safe access to reproductive health care, Pohutsky said, noting anti-abortion protests in Sterling Heights in 2020 and Saginaw in 2021 where several individuals were charged for preventing patients from receiving health care. Several individuals were found guilty in federal court in August of 2024, for illegally blockading the Sterling Heights reproductive health care facility, 'without regard to the serious medical needs of the women they blocked from accessing reproductive health care,' Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a news release in 2024. In one instance, the protestors physically obstructed a woman whose fetus experienced fatal abnormalities and the group's actions 'posed a grave and real threat to her health and fertility' Clarke said. Two of the individuals convicted in the Sterling Heights incident were also convicted in the Saginaw incident where in 2021 one of them sat in front the entrance to the clinic with a doorstop wedged under the door so it couldn't be opened from the inside, while the other used a bicycle lock to chain themselves in front of another door. Under the proposed legislation criminal penalties range from a six month misdemeanor to life in prison, should the obstruction or interference result in a death. The bills were referred to the House's Government Operations Committee where bills typically go to die, but Pohutsky said the legislation would cover so-called 'pregnancy crisis centers' which operate to offer alternatives to abortion services, often run by pro-life groups, so she's hopeful the legislation could be considered by the House's Republican majority. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
USA Today
12-02-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Progressives let hatred of Trump push them over the edge. It's truly sad to see.
Progressives let hatred of Trump push them over the edge. It's truly sad to see. | Opinion A Democratic legislator in Michigan announced she had been sterilized because she is afraid of what Donald Trump will do as president. Progressives' irrational actions are just plain sad. Show Caption Hide Caption Americans 'approve' of Trump's first month in office, CBS poll finds A majority of US adults polled by CBS News/YouGov approved of how President Donald Trump handled his first month back in the White House. If you thought that Trump Derangement Syndrome was a thing of the past, think again. President Donald Trump still has the ability to drive his opponents − well, nuts. At a rally at Michigan's Capitol last week to protest Trump and his right-hand billionaire Elon Musk, a state Democratic lawmaker told the crowd something quite shocking. 'Just under two weeks ago, I underwent surgery to ensure that I would never have to navigate a pregnancy in Donald Trump's America,' Rep. Laurie Pohutsky said, according to the Michigan Advance. 'I refuse to let my body be treated as currency by an administration that only sees value in my ability to procreate.' Pohutsky, who has previously served as Michigan House speaker pro tempore, continued: 'If you know people who are questioning how serious this is, I'm going to repeat myself. A sitting government official opted for voluntary sterilization because she was uncertain she would be able to access contraception in the future.' What Pohutsky did is indeed serious – with lasting repercussions for her future, should she ever regret her decision. It's also just plain sad. Pohutsky may think she's some kind of social justice warrior, but the 36-year-old, married lawmaker is hurting herself and setting a bad example for her female constituents. She knows better than anyone – or should – that wide access to abortion is cemented into the Michigan Constitution and contraception is readily available. It's unclear what she's trying to prove by taking this drastic step – and broadcasting it widely. Yet, Pohutsky's actions are symptomatic of a much bigger disconnect between progressives and the rest of the country. Opinion: Liberals want to erase women. Trump is standing up for our most basic rights. Republicans are 'fascists' and relationships with men are bad? Liberals are not OK. The protest in Michigan was one of many around the country last Wednesday to challenge the early actions of the Trump administration, which is operating at an unprecedented pace. Signs among the Michigan crowd included 'Fight the Fascists,' Resist Nazis,' 'Arrest Elon,' 'Eat the Rich,' 'Impeach the Clown' and 'This Is A Coup Directed At You.' So Pohutsky wasn't the only one in attendance who was on edge. There's something especially disturbing, though, to see women take their 'fears' of Trump and Republicans to such an extreme that they harm themselves and their relationships. Pohutsky's sterilization reminds me of a trend that began shortly after Trump was elected to his second term. Women announced on social media that they were swearing off sex, dating and marriage to punish the men in their lives, in part for their role in helping elect Trump. And since November, doctors have reported a surge in requests from women for long-term birth control or more drastic procedures like getting their tubes tied. Majority of Americans support Trump, believes he's fulfilling promises While Democrats are beside themselves that Trump is the president, the rest of the country has a much rosier outlook. A new poll from CBS News/YouGov found that Trump has a positive approval rating – 53% – among U.S. adults. Of that number, 31% strongly approve and 22% somewhat approve. Opinion: Hey Dems, chill. You lost. And Trump just getting started on what voters want. And 70% said Trump is doing exactly what he said he would do during his campaign, although 49% said they were surprised at the speed with which Trump has taken actions in his first few weeks. Whether liberals want to accept it or not, Trump will be president for the next four years. They have a right to protest all they want. But I hope more women think long and hard before they take extreme measures like Pohutsky did for political reasons. They may think they're really 'showing' Trump. In the end, they're hurting themselves. Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@ or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Death threats follow Michigan Democratic lawmaker's decision to have herself sterilized
Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) speaks ahead of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signing the last bill in the Reproductive Health Act in Lansing on Dec. 11, 2023. (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols) Michigan state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) said she's received death threats after revealing during a rally last week that she underwent voluntary sterilization because she was concerned about the future of reproductive health care during President Donald Trump's second term in office. Pohutsky's comments during a '50501 Movement' rally in Lansing last week quickly spread across the internet, including among right wing media circles. The rally was part of a national movement that aimed to hold 50 protests in 50 states on one day. 'I refuse to let my body be treated as currency by an administration that only sees value in my ability to procreate,' Pohutsky said during the rally, emphasizing that 'a sitting government official opted for voluntary sterilization because she was uncertain she would be able to access contraception in the future.' Pohutsky's social media profiles were quickly bombarded with hostile comments. In one voicemail left with her office, a caller says that 'godless people' are going to be 'eliminated' and warns Pohutsky that she is 'on notice.' Some of the threats have been referred to law enforcement to investigate, Pohutsky said. Pohutsky said that U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) reached out to her after the speech gained traction online, noting that Tlaib is no stranger to viral moments or receiving threats. The speech also garnered the attention of conservatives on a national level, including Ben Shapiro, who said of Pohutsky, 'So many broken people.' The fourth-term House member responded to Shapiro, saying 'I think the broken people are the ones who are personally aggrieved by my personal health care decision.' Pohutsky said she and her husband decided last year that they were done having children and began exploring options for more permanent forms of birth control, citing her concern after Trump won the election about being able to continue to access the contraception she had been using. After exploring surgical options with her doctor in November, the surgery was booked for January. Pohutsky said she nearly delayed the procedure because the House scheduled votes for that day, but decided to keep the Jan. 23 appointment when Trump 'pretty much immediately started signing executive orders that didn't have the force of law, but that institutions were complying with as though they did.' 'I had released a statement the day after the surgery explaining why I missed the vote and did not describe the surgery, because, frankly, it's my own business,' Pothusky said. But in the weeks between the surgery and the rally last week, Pohutsky said she spoke with several people who were exploring similar options or had already undergone the procedure and faced similar conversations about whether their concerns about being able to access the procedure in the future were valid. 'I think that, in particular, women second guess themselves a lot,' Pohutsky said. 'And I thought there was value in hearing from an elected official who is sort of in a position of authority … and hearing some validation from them.' That led to her decision to share her story on the steps of the Michigan Capitol, garnering applause from the hundreds of protesters in attendance. While Pohutsky said she did not expect the level of animosity in response to the speech, she said even the negative reactions have only reaffirmed her decision. 'The negative reaction has actually made me feel much more secure and validated in my choice to undergo the procedure and the timing with which I did it,' Pohutsky said. Not all of the reactions have been negative, Pohutsky said, adding that she has heard from people who already underwent the procedure, had just scheduled it or were still exploring it. 'There's a lot of noise, there's a lot of negativity, but the message that I was trying to get across did resonate with some people and has made it worth it,' Pohutsky said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
CBS News
08-02-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Threats follow Michigan state lawmaker who had surgery to remove reproductive organs
A Michigan state lawmaker told a crowd protesting President Trump's early actions this week that she underwent elective surgery to remove her reproductive organs. State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky's account was cheered by the left-leaning protestors and condemned by right-wing social media accounts. The 36-year-old Democrat said the surgery was a personal decision she had been considering for a few years and was finalized by Trump's election. She wanted to validate the fears other women might have about access to contraception by sharing it. She told The Associated Press that she has received threats since speaking this week, referring at least one of them to Michigan authorities. The Associated Press reached out to Michigan State Police for comment. "I don't fully grasp the level of animosity that people have about this," Pohutsky said. Pohutsky told a large crowd gathered in Lansing at the state Capitol Wednesday that she chose last month to have a bilateral salpingectomy to remove her fallopian tubes. While abortion is constitutionally protected in Michigan and state lawmakers have bolstered contraceptive access, she said the decision was prompted by doubts that the Trump administration will not target access. "Pretty much all of these executive orders have come straight out of Project 2025, and that same document outlines a process for limiting access to contraception," she said. After Trump's election, physicians reported a rise in women seeking both long-term birth control and permanent sterilizations. Trump told a Pittsburgh television station in May that he was open to supporting regulations on contraception, and later walked back his comments saying that he "has never and will never" advocate for restricting birth control and other contraceptives. Pohutsky said her decision to have the surgery was a conversation she and her husband had been having for a couple of years, and she made the appointment for the surgery after the November election. She later considered rescheduling it since it was on a session day, but decided to go through with it after seeing Trump's executive actions. Her decision was criticized by a few high-profile conservative voices on X, including the right-wing influencer account Libs of TikTok and conservative commentator Ben Shapiro.
