Press Release
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Files Lawsuit to Keep Abortion Legal in Michigan
For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 7, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Files Lawsuit to Keep Abortion Legal in Michigan
Washington, DC — Today, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer filed a historic lawsuit to keep access to abortion care legal in the state of Michigan. The lawsuit challenges Michigan’s outdated and dangerous 1931 pre-Roe ban that would criminalize abortion in the state and asks the state Supreme Court to recognize a right to abortion under the Michigan Constitution.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement in response:
“We applaud Governor Whitmer’s bold action to protect access to abortion care in Michigan. Gov. Whitmer has consistently shown herself to be a champion for reproductive freedom, and NARAL and our 85,000 members in Michigan will continue to support her as she takes bold action to protect our ability to decide if, when, and how to start or grow a family. At a time when reproductive freedom and abortion access are being attacked from every angle, we are grateful for champions like Gov. Whitmer who are committed to fighting to ensure reproductive freedom is protected in Michigan.”
The stakes for reproductive freedom are higher than ever before. In the coming months, the Supreme Court will rule in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—a case concerning Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban that directly challenges Roe v. Wade and threatens to end the constitutional right to abortion. If the Court upholds Mississippi’s ban, the constitutional right to abortion will cease to exist as we know it. Should Roe fall, 28 states—including Michigan—would likely take action to prohibit abortion outright. Of those, 13 states already have “trigger bans” in place, which would automatically ban abortion. Michigan is one of nine states that still have a total criminal ban on abortion on the books that was enacted before Roe was decided in 1973.
Even as Roe stands, state lawmakers across the country are working harder than ever to roll back abortion access and find new and increasingly cruel ways to ban and restrict abortion. Anti-choice lawmakers have already introduced over 500 restrictions on abortion this year, including bans on abortion at 15 weeks of pregnancy, bans modeled after Texas’ vigilante-enforced ban on abortion, and restrictions on medication abortion care. The people hurt most by abortion restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing the care they need—including women; Black, Indigenous and people of color; those working to make ends meet; LGBTQ+ people; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; and people with disabilities.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.