A 1931 law criminalizing abortion in Michigan is unconstitutional, a judge rules
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Abortion-rights supporters in the state of Michigan have scored a big victory.
A MARTINEZ, HOST:
That's right. First, some background, though. There has been a law on the books in Michigan since 1931 that banned abortions in most cases and called for prosecutors to charge abortion providers with felonies. This law hasn't been enforced, but after the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade, some lawmakers wanted to revive it. Now a judge says that's not going to happen.
MARTIN: Michigan Public Radio's Rick Pluta has been following all this and joins us this morning. Hey, Rick.
RICK PLUTA, BYLINE: Hello.
MARTIN: Explain the judge's decision here.
PLUTA: Sure. Judge Gleicher issued a temporary ruling before the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June in the Dobbs case that overturned Roe v. Wade. It was back in April that Judge Gleicher said the Michigan Constitution probably protects reproductive rights. Now she's saying that she's confident that was the right call, and she made that a permanent injunction.
MARTIN: So she's saying this 1931 ban can't go back into effect, which is good news for abortion providers who could have ended up facing felony charges, right?
PLUTA: Exactly. This shields them from charges, at least for now. And that is good news for Dr. Sarah Wallett, who is the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Michigan.
SARAH WALLETT: Right now, we can be reassured that abortion access in Michigan is here, that I can keep providing health care to patients, that people in Michigan can keep coming to their appointments. And I don't have to worry about criminal prosecution for providing the health care to my patients that they need.
MARTIN: What's been the reaction, Rick, from those on the other side of this issue, those who were pushing to reinstate the ban?
PLUTA: A group of Republican prosecutors filed this lawsuit. They're not happy and defiant in the ruling. Judge Gleicher says the state attorney general, who supports abortion rights, should instruct county prosecutors, well, not to prosecute. And that doesn't sit well with those prosecutors who have filed their own lawsuit. Their attorney, David Kallman, says filing charges against abortion providers is their call. And yesterday's court decision, in his opinion, does not affect what they can do.
DAVID KALLMAN: I didn't realize the state of Michigan now, according to Judge Gleicher, controls and runs all 83 county prosecutor's offices in the state. Wow. This is pretty novel, pretty groundbreaking, you know, news. I mean, since when did this happen?
MARTIN: So just to be clear, Rick, they're saying the judge's decision actually doesn't shut the door on the 1931 ban, and individual prosecutors can still apply it.
PLUTA: Exactly.
MARTIN: So, you know, there are going to be legal battles over this, but there's also this effort to get a measure on the November ballot that would protect abortion rights in the Constitution, right? What's the status of that?
PLUTA: Well, it's in limbo. Activists who support abortion rights ran this petition campaign. They collected a record 750,000 signatures to put that question on the November ballot. But opponents have filed a court challenge, and that challenge claims the language in the proposed amendment is too baffling to qualify for the ballot.
MARTIN: OK. So we're going to see what happens there. I mean, that's gone to the Michigan Supreme Court, though, right? I mean, what's the deadline for a decision on that?
PLUTA: Soon - very soon. We're looking at today, tomorrow, no later than Monday because election officials say that's the deadline to file the - to finalize the ballot.
MARTIN: All right. Rick Pluta is senior capitol correspondent for Michigan Public Radio Network. Thank you so much for your reporting, Rick. We appreciate it.
PLUTA: You bet.
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