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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asked the Michigan Supreme Court to evaluate her lawsuit challenging a pre-Roe law restricting access to abortion.
The governor filed a motion Friday urging the state’s high court to take up her suit filed in April to scrap the law and declare abortion a constitutionally protected right under Michigan law, stressing the urgency of her motion in light of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion.
WHERE EVERY STATE STANDS ON ABORTION IN WAKE OF ROE BEING OVERTURNED
“With today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision, Michigan’s extreme 1931 law banning abortion without exceptions for rape or incest and criminalizing doctors and nurses who provide reproductive care is poised to take effect. If the 1931 law goes into effect, it will punish women and strip away their right to make decisions about their own bodies,” Whitmer said in a statement.
“We need to clarify that under Michigan law, access to abortion is not only legal, but constitutionally protected. The urgency of the moment is clear — the Michigan court must act now,” the governor continued.
The 1930s-era abortion law makes performing the procedure in the state a felony in most instances but had been blocked from enforcement due to precedents first established by Roe in 1973. An exception is permitted to save the life of the mother, but there are no carve-outs for instances of rape or incest, according to Click on Detroit.
In the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court held that Roe and Casey v. Planned Parenthood “arrogated” a woman’s right to an abortion and relegated the matter back to the states. This means the state’s pre-Roe abortion law could go back into effect.
Last month, a Michigan judge temporarily blocked the law from being enforced by issuing a preliminary injunction, but if the injunction is relinquished, the law could go back into effect. The state’s Supreme Court has a 4-3, Democratic-to-Republican split.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Whitmer argued that the due process clause of the Michigan Constitution guarantees a woman the right to terminate her pregnancy. This is a similar line of reasoning behind Roe, which relied on the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
