A Michigan judge ruled Wednesday that the state’s 1931 law that bans most abortions is unconstitutional.
The law infringes upon the equal protection and bodily autonomy guaranteed to pregnant Michiganders in the state’s constitution, Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher found.
“For 50 years, Michiganders have freely exercised the right to safely control their health and their reproductive destinies by deciding when and whether to carry a pregnancy to term. Eliminating abortion access will force pregnant women to forgo control of the integrity of their own bodies, regardless of the effect on their health and lives,” Gleicher wrote, per the Detroit Free Press.
THE FOUR STATES THAT WILL HAVE ABORTION ON THE BALLOT IN NOVEMBER
In her ruling, Gleicher tore into the law, asserting that it “compels motherhood” in a flagrant violation of the state constitution that “forbids treating pregnant women as unequal to men in terms of their ability to make personal decisions about when and whether to be a parent.”
The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood of Michigan against the state. Detractors of Gleicher have noted that she has donated to Planned Parenthood and backed a lawsuit in the 1990s that contended the Michigan Constitution guarantees a right to an abortion, the Detroit Free Press reported.
“A law denying safe, routine medical care not only denies women of their ability to control their bodies and their lives — it denies them of their dignity,” Gleicher added, per the Associated Press.
Gleicher’s decision marks the first time a state judge has weighed in on the matter, per the outlet. The 1931 law imposes criminal penalties on medical professionals who perform abortions unless the procedure is performed when the life of the mother is in imminent danger.
Precedents first established in Roe v. Wade had nullified the law from going into effect for nearly five decades, but after the Supreme Court scrapped that precedent in June, the law became permissible. In May, a Michigan judge temporarily blocked the law from going into effect while legal challenges against it play out in the courtroom. That block was extended last month.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In a separate legal skirmish, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) filed a lawsuit last April imploring state courts to scrap the 1931 abortion law. Meanwhile, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is fighting in court to put the question of whether abortion should remain legal on the Michigan ballot ahead of the midterm elections. Last month, the state elections board failed to secure the votes needed to put a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a right to an abortion on the ballot.
The Wednesday ruling is expected to be appealed.
