Gov. Whitmer files abortion suit
Preemptive case asks court to recognize right in Michigan
LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit Thursday asking a Michigan court to recognize the right to get an abortion under the state constitution and to overturn a 176-year-old ban in the state that might take effect again if the U.S. Supreme Court’s 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 Supreme Court’s conservative majority considers allowing states to ban abortion much earlier in a pregnancy and potentially overturning the right. Planned Parenthood of Michigan and its chief medical officer filed a similar lawsuit 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, asked the Michigan Supreme Court to quickly take up 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,” Whitmer told reporters, 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. The 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 law, which could go back into effect if Roe is overturned or weakened. The lawsuit argues the law is invalid under the due process and equal protection clauses of the state constitution.
Michigan may soon be left with a near-total ban without even exceptions for rape and incest — “one of the most extreme laws in the country,” the governor told reporters. Her call to repeal the law has gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
NEBRASKA BILL
In a similar case, 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 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized the procedure throughout the country.
More than a dozen other conservative states have passed similar measures already, but abortion rights backers in Nebraska blocked 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 stopped 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 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.