AUGUST 19, 2022:
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan judge has blocked county prosecutors from enforcing a pre-Roe abortion ban that would have allowed providers to be charged with a felony. The preliminary injunction Friday (Aug. 19, 2022) comes after the state Court of Appeals ruled earlier this month that a May preliminary injunction applies only to the attorney general’s office, not county prosecutors who handle most crimes. The judge’s ruling followed two days of testimony from witnesses. Prosecutors in some of the state’s most populous counties have said they would not charge providers regardless of the decision, but Republican prosecutors in Kent, Jackson and Macomb counties have said they should be able to enforce the 1931 law. David Kallman, an attorney representing two Republican county prosecutors, says an appeal is planned.
APRIL 2022:
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has sued to protect abortion rights, asking a court to recognize a right to abortion under the state constitution. The Democratic governor also is seeking to overturn a 176-year-old ban in Michigan that may take effect if the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling is vacated. The lawsuit, filed Thursday (April 7, 2022) against prosecutors in 13 counties with an abortion clinic, comes as the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority considers allowing states to ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy and potentially overturning the right. The governor, who is up for reelection this year, is expected to request that the Michigan Supreme Court quickly take the case.
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