Michigan governor sues to secure abortion rights, vacate ban
By DAVID EGGERT
FILE - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during a news conference in Lansing, Mich., Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. Whitmer sued Thursday, April 7, to protect abortion rights, asking a Michigan court to recognize a right to abortion under the state constitution and to overturn a 176-year-old ban that may take effect if the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling is vacated.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sued Thursday to protect abortion rights, asking a Michigan court to recognize a right to abortion under the state constitution and to overturn a 176-year-old ban in the state that may take effect if the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling is vacated.
The Democratic governor’s preemptive lawsuit, which was filed in Oakland County against prosecutors in 13 counties with an abortion clinic, came as the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority considers allowing states to ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy and potentially overturning the right. Planned Parenthood of Michigan and its chief medical officer filed a similar suit in the state Court of Claims to block enforcement of the 1931 law, which dates to an 1846 ban.
Whitmer, who is up for reelection this year, was expected to request that the Michigan Supreme Court quickly take her case rather than let it wind through lower trial and appellate courts. A favorable decision could enable abortions to continue in Michigan after the federal high court rules.
“It was important for us to take action now, to ensure that women and providers across the state of Michigan know whether abortions will still be available in the state because it impacts their lives and our health care providers’ practices. It’s crucial that we take this action now to secure and ensure that the Michigan Constitution protects this right that we have had available for 49 years,” the governor told The Associated Press, saying nearly 2.2 million women may lose access to a safe, legal medical procedure.
Michigan is among eight states with an unenforced abortion ban that was enacted before the 1973 Roe decision legalized abortion nationwide. States on both sides of the abortion issue have been taking a variety of steps to prepare for Roe being eroded or rescinded, including making it a crime to perform an abortion and banning legal action against people who aid or receive an abortion.
Michigan’s law makes it a felony to use an instrument or administer any substance with the intent “to procure the miscarriage” of a woman unless necessary to preserve her life.
Whitmer wants the Michigan Supreme Court to declare a state constitutional right to abortion and to strike down the 1931 law, which could go back into effect if Roe is overturned or weakened. The lawsuit argues that the law is invalid under the due process and equal protection clauses of the state constitution.
Michigan could soon be left with a near-total ban without even exceptions for rape and incest — “one of the most extreme laws in the country,” Whitmer said. Her call to repeal the law has gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
The state high court has four Democratic and three Republican justices.
Whitmer will ask that the court intervene in part to avoid legal uncertainty when the federal high court issues its ruling on Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The complaint says that while the Michigan Supreme Court in 1973 ruled that Roe limited the effect of the state ban, the right to abortion has been undermined over 50 years of litigation in federal courts. The state’s high court has not said whether the state constitution protects the right. The Michigan Court of Appeals, in 1997, ruled there is no state constitutional right to abortion — a reason the Michigan Supreme Court should step in immediately, according to her office.
The lawsuit points to “substantial ambiguity” about what the state ban prohibits.
Abortion rights advocates have launched a ballot drive to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution but need about 425,000 voter signatures to put the initiative on the November ballot.
Also Thursday, seven Democratic county prosecutors who were named in the lawsuit pledged to not enforce the anti-abortion law.
“We cannot and will not support criminalizing reproductive freedom or creating unsafe, untenable situations for health care providers and those who seek abortions in our communities,” said the elected prosecutors in Wayne, Oakland, Genesee, Washtenaw, Ingham, Kalamazoo and Marquette counties. “Instead, we will continue to dedicate our limited resources towards the prosecution of serious crimes and the pursuit of justice for all.”
The other six elected prosecutors who were sued are Republicans.
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Associated Press writer Corey Williams in West Bloomfield, Michigan, contributed to this report.
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Follow David Eggert at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00
By DAVID EGGERT
FILE - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during a news conference in Lansing, Mich., Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. Whitmer sued Thursday, April 7, to protect abortion rights, asking a Michigan court to recognize a right to abortion under the state constitution and to overturn a 176-year-old ban that may take effect if the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling is vacated.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sued Thursday to protect abortion rights, asking a Michigan court to recognize a right to abortion under the state constitution and to overturn a 176-year-old ban in the state that may take effect if the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling is vacated.
The Democratic governor’s preemptive lawsuit, which was filed in Oakland County against prosecutors in 13 counties with an abortion clinic, came as the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority considers allowing states to ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy and potentially overturning the right. Planned Parenthood of Michigan and its chief medical officer filed a similar suit in the state Court of Claims to block enforcement of the 1931 law, which dates to an 1846 ban.
Whitmer, who is up for reelection this year, was expected to request that the Michigan Supreme Court quickly take her case rather than let it wind through lower trial and appellate courts. A favorable decision could enable abortions to continue in Michigan after the federal high court rules.
“It was important for us to take action now, to ensure that women and providers across the state of Michigan know whether abortions will still be available in the state because it impacts their lives and our health care providers’ practices. It’s crucial that we take this action now to secure and ensure that the Michigan Constitution protects this right that we have had available for 49 years,” the governor told The Associated Press, saying nearly 2.2 million women may lose access to a safe, legal medical procedure.
Michigan is among eight states with an unenforced abortion ban that was enacted before the 1973 Roe decision legalized abortion nationwide. States on both sides of the abortion issue have been taking a variety of steps to prepare for Roe being eroded or rescinded, including making it a crime to perform an abortion and banning legal action against people who aid or receive an abortion.
Michigan’s law makes it a felony to use an instrument or administer any substance with the intent “to procure the miscarriage” of a woman unless necessary to preserve her life.
Whitmer wants the Michigan Supreme Court to declare a state constitutional right to abortion and to strike down the 1931 law, which could go back into effect if Roe is overturned or weakened. The lawsuit argues that the law is invalid under the due process and equal protection clauses of the state constitution.
Michigan could soon be left with a near-total ban without even exceptions for rape and incest — “one of the most extreme laws in the country,” Whitmer said. Her call to repeal the law has gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
The state high court has four Democratic and three Republican justices.
Whitmer will ask that the court intervene in part to avoid legal uncertainty when the federal high court issues its ruling on Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The complaint says that while the Michigan Supreme Court in 1973 ruled that Roe limited the effect of the state ban, the right to abortion has been undermined over 50 years of litigation in federal courts. The state’s high court has not said whether the state constitution protects the right. The Michigan Court of Appeals, in 1997, ruled there is no state constitutional right to abortion — a reason the Michigan Supreme Court should step in immediately, according to her office.
The lawsuit points to “substantial ambiguity” about what the state ban prohibits.
Abortion rights advocates have launched a ballot drive to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution but need about 425,000 voter signatures to put the initiative on the November ballot.
Also Thursday, seven Democratic county prosecutors who were named in the lawsuit pledged to not enforce the anti-abortion law.
“We cannot and will not support criminalizing reproductive freedom or creating unsafe, untenable situations for health care providers and those who seek abortions in our communities,” said the elected prosecutors in Wayne, Oakland, Genesee, Washtenaw, Ingham, Kalamazoo and Marquette counties. “Instead, we will continue to dedicate our limited resources towards the prosecution of serious crimes and the pursuit of justice for all.”
The other six elected prosecutors who were sued are Republicans.
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Associated Press writer Corey Williams in West Bloomfield, Michigan, contributed to this report.
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Follow David Eggert at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00
By GRANT SCHULTE
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Abortion rights proponents scored a surprising victory in Nebraska by derailing a bill that would have automatically outlawed abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court ever overturns its Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized the procedure throughout the country.
The vote on Wednesday frustrated abortion rights opponents, who usually win fights over the issue in the conservative Legislature. More than a dozen other conservative states have passed similar measures already, but abortion rights backers in Nebraska managed to block it using a filibuster in the single-chamber Legislature.
The bill’s supporters fell two votes short of the 33 they needed to end the filibuster and force a vote. The 31-15 vote left the proposal essentially dead for the rest of the year, even though a majority of lawmakers supported it. The vote largely fell along party lines in the ostensibly nonpartisan Legislature.
In 2010, Nebraska became the first state to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, and the state outlawed a second-trimester abortion procedure in 2020 despite fervent protests from abortion rights supporters.
The latest bill, however, faced a tougher path because of the current makeup of the Legislature, where Republicans are one seat short of the supermajority needed to overcome filibusters. One Republican and Democrat each crossed party lines, effectively canceling the other’s vote. One Republican and two Democrats were absent.
Supporters argued that the majority of Nebraska voters oppose abortion, based on who the state consistently elects.
“We envision a Nebraska where every life is celebrated and protected,” said state Sen. Joni Albrecht, the bill’s sponsor.
Opponents assailed it as an intrusion on women’s autonomy and vowed not to budge in their opposition.
“In state by state, legislatures are taking a sledgehammer to women’s freedom,” said state Sen. Anna Wishart, of Lincoln.
The debate turned personal at times, with abortion rights supporters railing against the bill’s backers for supporting it even though it doesn’t include exceptions for rape or incest.
“Proponents of this bill have no shame left,” said state Sen. Megan Hunt, of Omaha, adding that she was offended as both a mother a sexual assault survivor. “I will cherish the time that I have worked here forever, but when I am term limited (out of office), I will probably not talk to most of you ever again.”
The debate came ahead of an expected June ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which concerns a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks or pregnancy.
Both sides have told the court there’s no middle ground in the case. In anticipation of the ruling, 13 states have passed so-called trigger laws to automatically ban abortions if the court sides with abortion opponents. Ohio and Oklahoma approved their trigger laws last year.
The court’s original 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling allows state to regulate but not ban abortions up to the point of fetal viability, which is around the 24th week of a pregnance. Justices reaffirmed the decision in 1992.
The Nebraska vote drew promises of political retribution against some elected officials. Jim Pillen, a top Republican candidate for governor, said Thursday that he would work to unseat some lawmakers who are up for reelection and who voted to block the bill.
“Last night, the Legislature failed the people of Nebraska in voting to keep abortion legal,” Pillen said. “Abortion is murder, and as a pro-life state, the majority of Nebraskans realize we need to outlaw it.”
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Follow Grant Schulte on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrantSchulte
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