Gretchen Whitmer

It’s been an incredibly shameless pivot to the general election season for the current crop of Republican candidates hoping to secure wins in November. As they face the music on the electability of their extreme views, we’ve seen the candidates — some of whom have not only pushed Big Lie propaganda as policy positions, but have launched their entire political careers on the back of Trumpy election denialism — flail around, walking back or entirely reversing their stances on the 2020 election in recent weeks.

Desperate GOPers such as Blake Masters in Arizona have also attempted to completely re-write their views on abortion, as Roe’s overturning has turned out to be incredibly unpopular among Americans, and an energizing rallying cry for Democrats.

But Tudor Dixon’s recent spin might be among the most flagrant yet.

A group of pro-abortion activists in Michigan have succeeded in collecting close to double the signatures necessary to get a question on the ballot this fall that, if approved by voters, would codify abortion rights into the state constitution.

Planning ahead for the eventual demise of Roe, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) filed a lawsuit earlier this year against 13 county prosecutors in her state to preemptively challenge the 1930s-era abortion ban on the books in Michigan. Her logic was simple — once Roe was ultimately overturned the century-old law would immediately go into effect, giving those 13 county prosecutors — who oversee the 13 counties in the state that house abortion clinics — the authority to charge people who violate the old-school ban.

If Roe v. Wade is overturned as conservative justices have signaled it might be this summer, abortion will become near-illegal almost instantly in 17 states.

As my colleague Kate Riga reported back in December, a large chunk of those states, including Michigan, have old laws on the books that were put in place before Roe gave people who can become pregnant the national right to an abortion. A few of those states have what’s referred to as a “trigger law” in place meant to be enacted as soon as Roe falls that would ban most or all abortions in the state. Some of those 17 states have both measures in place.