Most Michigan Christians have never lobbied their state legislator. That single failure is why abolition has no legislative bench in Lansing. We at Abolish Abortion Michigan want to give you the tools to contact your legislator, putting political pressure on them and hopefully changing their minds or votes on abortion abolition. It will only take 20 minutes to do if you follow these practical steps.

First, you need to find who your legislator is. This will allow you to lobby the one who represents your area and will be the most likely to consider your position, as you are their constituent. You can do this by going to our legislator scorecard. Once there, simply type in your ZIP code, and you can click on your Senator and House Representative. Note that there are only 38 State Senators compared to 110 State House Representatives, so the Senators answer to more people and have bigger districts. Each chamber must introduce, debate, and pass a bill by majority before it becomes a law. When you click, you can find their official phone number, where their office is, their website if you would like to learn more about them, their social media, and most importantly for this form of lobbying their email address. You could also check out their information on the official directories of the House and Senate. Additionally, our cities page has more information on abolition in your area, like how people of your area voted, and who all of the legislators are in your city.

Along with their contact comes their personal legislator scorecard. This scorecard shows if they have any abortion-related sponsors. For example, a few Republicans are sponsored by Michigan Right to Life, and many Democrats are sponsored by Planned Parenthood. You can also see what their vote is on certain abortion-related bills, and what bills they sponsored. Because many recent Michigan bills have been passed by the pro-choice politicians, it is possible that a pro-life legislator gets a passing grade on a certain bill (as voting against a pro-choice bill is passing), but a failing overall grade because they support bills that are incremental and do not establish equal justice.

Once you have your legislator’s contact information and some basic information on what bills they voted for, you have everything needed to start writing an email to your legislator! You could also call them or even set up a meeting in person, but an email is probably the easiest way to get your foot in the door. Here is an email structure that works for that purpose:

1. Identify yourself as a constituent
State your name (anonymity won’t help build a relationship with your legislator) and your zip code or city so they know that they are your representative and therefore are supposed to take your opinion into account.

2. State the ask first
Say that they should draft, sponsor, or cosponsor a bill of equal protection for the unborn, and publicly support abolition. Do this before you get into any arguments.

3. Give one reason for why they should do what you ask
Make this reason grounded in principle, not statistics. Many republican legislators claim to be Christian, so a Biblically grounded reason would work. If they are not Christian, their morality is based in Christian ethics whether they know it or not, so the moral principles found in the Bible are still a good thing to point to. Your reason should also include the idea that the unborn are persons from the moment of conception, and should be treated equally to other persons. Biblically, there is no "personhood" distinction where some human beings made in God’s image fall under the protections of God’s law and others don’t.

4. Ask for a reply
This part is simple, just be cordial and ask for them to get back to you with an answer. Normally politeness gets more responses.

Because legislators are often very busy, you may not get a response right away, but if they don’t respond within 10 days, that is a good time to send a follow-up email. Don’t assume they are ignoring you at first, simply give a gentle reminder that you contacted them and they have yet to respond. If they still do not respond within a few days of your follow-up, that is when you should call the district office and show up at town-hall meetings.

Here is a sample email that you can edit to fit your specific legislator:

Hello,

My name is __________, and I’m from _________, Michigan in your district.

I’m emailing you today to ask you to draft and sponsor a bill of equal protection for the unborn in the state of Michigan.

The most fundamental right a person has is the right to life, and it is the responsibility of the State to protect this God-given right above all else for all human beings regardless of race, gender, beliefs, age, location, or level of development. This right must be protected by laws against that which goes against it. Every civilized culture has laws against murder. These laws are so fundamental that they are found in the Bible, which says "thou shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13). The Bible does not qualify who falls under the category of people who should not murder or the category of people who should not be murdered, and neither should we. Evil cultures throughout history put boxes around certain human beings, saying they are less human or not truly persons. However, personhood begins the moment human life does: conception.

Our state does two things wrong: it does not protect a certain class of living human beings from being murdered (the unborn), and it does not legally stop a certain class of human beings from murdering others (those who get abortions). In other words, it does not follow the main duty of the government which is to protect the human life of all innocent persons. This is why I am asking you to draft a bill that would protect all human beings equally by banning abortion in the state of Michigan. If you want an example of what this bill might look like, I can provide that, but for now, I’m asking you to give a stance on whether you are willing to stand for the unborn who can’t stand for themselves.

Please let me know if this is something you would consider, and I will get back to you.

Sincerely,

———————

AAM also made another draft email on each legislator’s scorecard that is a little shorter and more concise. By clicking the "Email ________ about abolition" button, an email will automatically be drafted ready to send. Either one will work, or you could be unique and use the above ideas to help you create your own.

Whatever route you choose to take, you have the tools, and it takes less than 20 minutes to do. Find your legislator and email them today! Additionally, don’t forget to sign our petition if you haven’t already.