Current:Home > reviewsPoinbank:A 1931 law criminalizing abortion in Michigan is unconstitutional, a judge rules -FundPrime
Poinbank:A 1931 law criminalizing abortion in Michigan is unconstitutional, a judge rules
Indexbit Exchange View
Date:2025-04-10 01:19:45
ANN ARBOR,Poinbank Mich. — Enforcement of Michigan's 1931 abortion ban was blocked Wednesday by a judge who replaced her temporary order with a permanent injunction.
Michigan Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher ruled the Michigan Constitution's due process clause is expansive enough to cover reproductive rights.
"The Michigan Constitution protects the right of all pregnant people to make autonomous health decisions," she wrote, and later: "Exercising the right to bodily integrity means exercising the right to determine when in her life a woman will be best prepared physically, emotionally and financially to be a mother."
Gleicher's initial temporary order pre-dated the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in June.
Dr. Sarah Wallett, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Michigan, says this means abortion rights are protected while there's still a lot of litigation pending.
"But this does help reassure providers and patients who are really worried that that might not always be the case in Michigan," she told the Michigan Public Radio Network.
Michigan's dormant abortion law would threaten abortion providers with felony charges.
Gleicher's opinion was somewhat technical. It did not directly bar prosecutors from filing charges against abortion providers. Instead, she instructed Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to inform prosecutors that abortion rights remain protected. Nessel has already said she won't file charges under the 1931 law.
The distinction is meaningless, according to attorney David Kallman, who represents county prosecutors who say they are allowed to file criminal charges under the 1931 law.
"Unbelievable," he said. "Talk about a shift and a change in our constitutional form of government. I didn't realize the state of Michigan now, according to Judge Gleicher, controls and runs all 83 county prosecutors' offices in this state."
This is one of several abortion-related legal cases in play in Michigan. It could join at least three decisions that have been appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court. There's also a separate case that seeks to put an abortion rights amendment on the November ballot.
The court is expected to rule this week on a challenge to the petition campaign, which gathered nearly 750,000 signatures — a record — in an effort to put a proposed reproductive rights amendment on the November ballot.
veryGood! (15)
Related
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- This week on Sunday Morning (November 12)
- This Golden Bachelor Fan-Favorite Reveals She Almost Returned After Her Heartbreaking Early Exit
- I expected an active retirement, but my body had other plans. I'm learning to embrace it.
- Who's hosting 'Saturday Night Live' tonight? Musical guest, how to watch Dec. 14 episode
- Live updates | Israeli strikes hit near Gaza City hospitals as more Palestinians flee south
- Jillian Ludwig, college student hit by stray bullet in Nashville, has died
- China denies accusations of forced assimilation and curbs on religious freedom in Tibet
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Portugal’s president dissolves parliament and calls an early election after prime minister quit
Ranking
- Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
- Former Michigan priest sentenced to year in jail after pleading guilty to sexually abusing altar boy
- Palestinian soccer team prepares for World Cup qualifying games against a backdrop of war
- Shawn Mendes Strips Down at the Beach With Big Brother UK’s Charlie Travers
- Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
- How a history of trauma is affecting the children of Gaza
- Illinois lawmakers OK new nuclear technology but fail to extend private-school scholarships
- Matthew Perry’s Death Certificate Released
Recommendation
Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
Biden and Xi will meet Wednesday for talks on trade, Taiwan and managing fraught US-China relations
Internet collapses in war-torn Yemen after recent attacks by Houthi rebels targeting Israel, US
Police investigate vandalism at US Rep. Monica De La Cruz’s Texas office over Israel-Hamas war
Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
'Women Tell All' brings 'Golden Bachelor' confessions: But first, who did Gerry send home?
Former New York comptroller Alan Hevesi, tarnished by public scandals, dies at 83
Review: 'Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' is the best 'Hunger Games' movie of them all