Michigan Can Vote on Whether to Make Abortion a Constitutional Right, Court Rules
In this June 27, 2016, file photo, pro-choice demonstrators celebrate in front of the U.S. Supreme Court after the court struck down a Texas abortion access law.
The Michigan State Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that a proposed amendment enshrining abortion has a state constitutional right to be certified for voters’ November ballots.
With a 5-2 majority, the court said a petition to place the proposed amendment on ballots had undisputedly received enough signatures, deciding that the amendment’s words were spaced properly for certification. In July, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan (PPAM) said over 753,000 signatures were collected by Reproductive Freedom for All campaign supporters, MLive reported.
Reproductive Freedom for All cheered the Thursday court ruling in a Facebook post, saying, “We are glad that the Court affirmed the will of the people — more than 730,000 Michiganders from every county in the state — said they want to restore the protections of Roe in Michigan. This decision brings us one step closer to keeping the abortion rights that we’ve had in Michigan for 50 years.”
The amendment would add a section to the Michigan state constitution’s Article 1, declaring a “right to reproductive freedom” for every individual, including the right to obtain an abortion. It would bar the state from prohibiting an abortion if determined medically necessary to protect the mother’s health.
An Aug. 29 to Sept. 1 poll by WDIV and Detroit News found 60.3% of responding Michigan voters said they would a support a proposal to constitutionally guarantee abortion rights in the state, and 57.6% expressed disagreement with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
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The Michigan State Court of Claims decided Wednesday that the state’s 1931 law prohibiting abortion, without rape or incest exceptions, could not be enforced, Fox 2 Detroit reported. The court’s ruling said enforcing the law “would deprive pregnant women of their right to bodily integrity and autonomy, and the equal protection of the law,” rendering it unconstitutional.
Editor’s Note: Please join The Stream in praying for a realization of the sanctity of life to sweep our nation. Roe v. Wade may have been struck down, but there’s still much work to do to protect life in the womb. For more Stream coverage on abortion, click here.
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