Whitmer Urges MI Supreme Court To Consider Lawsuit Protecting Abortion Rights

MICHIGAN — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a motion Friday urging the Michigan Supreme Court to recognize a woman's right to an abortion under the state's constitution, nullifying the state's 1931 abortion ban law.

"We need to clarify that under Michigan law, access to abortion is not only legal, but constitutionally protected," Whitmer said in a statement. "The urgency of the moment is clear—the Michigan court must act now."

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade on Friday, triggering Michigan's 1931 abortion ban that bans abortions in nearly every circumstance, except to save a woman's life.

Whitmer filed a lawsuit in April asking the court to immediately to strike down the state's 1931 ban on abortion, in the event that Roe v. Wade was overturned, which the U.S. Supreme Court did on Friday.

The lawsuit argues that Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban "violates the rights to liberty, bodily integrity, equal protection and privacy under the Michigan Constitution and state civil rights laws, and that the law is unconstitutionally vague."

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher temporarily suspended the 1931 law from going into effect, but that ruling can be overturned at any moment, meaning the fate of the law will be decided in the State's Supreme Court.

• Related — MI Abortion Doctors Could Face 10-Year Felony Under Proposed Bill
• Related — Whitmer, MI Leaders React To U.S. Justices Overturning Roe V. Wade
• Related — Protesters Gather After Supreme Court Strikes Down Roe V. Wade