Rhonda Dailey, MD Moderates Governor Gretchen Whitmer's Flint Roundtable Discussion
Dr. Rhonda Dailey, a perinatal and women’s health behavioral researcher in the DFMPHS and an advocate for reproductive justice, moderated Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Flint roundtable discussion focused on women’s rights on September 19, 2022. The Governor has held many of these roundtable discussions across Michigan, with the goals to raise awareness of 1931 Michigan law, raise awareness of the governor’s actions to protect abortion and reproductive freedom, and raise awareness of popularity of keeping abortion legal in Michigan, which has over 70% support. The members of the panel included community members and healthcare professionals who could be affected by the Supreme Court’s recent overturn of Roe vs Wade.
The goal of the roundtable discussion was to raise awareness of the 1931 Michigan law, raise awareness of the governor’s actions to protect abortion and reproductive freedom, and raise awareness of the popularity of keeping abortion legal in Michigan.
“As the moderator, I kept the conversation flowing and asked some sample questions that were supplied by the governor’s office and some generated on my own that derived from the conversation,” Dr. Dailey said. “Although the initial plan was for me to be a member of the Flint panel representing the perinatal research angle to reproductive rights, I felt honored to be asked to moderate once the plans had changed.
A clip of the roundtable quoting Dr. Dailey and other members of the roundtable was aired on Showtime’s political docuseries, “The Circus” on Sunday, September 25th (Season 7, Episode 9: “Not in Kansas Anymore”). “It is so important for us to realize what women had been suffering through when abortion was not legal,” Dr. Dailey said on “The Circus.” Dr. Dailey was also featured in an article about the roundtable in the 10/21/2022 edition of Today @Wayne.