Jim Harbaugh would 'raise that baby' if member of program, family had unplanned pregnancy

Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh further reiterated his stance on abortion rights, saying it needs further discussion and he would raise a child if one of his players or a family member had an unplanned pregnancy.

Harbaugh and his wife spoke at a Plymouth Right to Life event in Plymouth, Michigan last week and spoke again to ESPN when they caught up with him in Muskegon, Michigan.

"Let's discuss it," Harbaugh told ESPN.com. "I've told (them) the same thing I tell my kids, boys, the girls, same thing I tell our players, our staff members. I encourage them if they have a pregnancy that wasn't planned, to go through with it, go through with it. Let that unborn child be born, and if at that time, you don't feel like you can care for it, you don't have the means or the wherewithal, then Sarah and I will take that baby.

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"Any player on our team, any female staff member or any staff member or anybody in our family or our extended family ... that doesn't feel like after they have a baby they can take care of it, we got a big house," Harbaugh added. "We'll raise that baby."

The right to abortion was struck down by the United States Supreme Court on June 24 after Roe v. Wade established it in a 1973 ruling.

Harbaugh was asked Tuesday at Big Ten media days about his decision to go public with his views.

"We need to talk about it. It’s too big an issue to not give real serious consideration to," Harbaugh said. "What kind of person would you be if you didn’t stand up for what you believe in and didn’t fight tooth and nail for it?

"I believe in letting the unborn be born."

Despite the federal ruling, abortion is still legal in Michigan, but the state's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, has filed a lawsuit aiming to repeal a 1931 law that bans the practice, unless it is done to save the pregnant woman's life. Whitmer says the ban violates the state's Equal Protection Clause.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jim Harbaugh on abortion: Michigan coach would 'raise' a player's baby