Gov. Whitmer sues to protect abortion rights in Michigan
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LANSING -- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday filed a lawsuit asking the Michigan Supreme Court to immediately resolve whether Michigan's constitution protects the right to abortion.
Whitmer's action comes less than a day after a draft majority opinion published by Politico claimed that the nation's top court would overturn Roe v. Wade, which established abortion as a constitutional right.
The Center Square reported Tuesday that Chief John Justice Roberts confirmed the document's authenticity and ordered an investigation, according to the Associated Press. It was the first time a Supreme Court decision was leaked in modern U.S. history before it became official with a formal release.
Currently, a 1931 Michigan law criminalizes abortion with out exceptions for rape or incest. The passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973 rendered the law unconstitutional and abortion became legal in Michigan.
Whitmer's suit asks the court to recognize a constitutional right to an abortion under the Due Process Clause of the Michigan Constitution, the Governor's Office stated in a Tuesday press release. It also asks the court to stop enforcement of the 1931 Michigan abortion ban.
Michigan's due process clause, which provides a right to privacy and bodily autonomy, is violated by the 1931 near-total criminal ban of abortion, the release states, adding that It also violates Michigan's Equal Protection Clause due to the way the ban denies women equal rights. The argument is that the law was adopted to reinforce antiquated notions of the proper role for women in society, the release stated.
"The words 'Roe overturned' are no longer theoretical," Whitmer said in the release. "I want every (Michigan resident) to know -- no matter what happens in D.C., I'm going to fight like hell to protect access to safe, legal abortion in Michigan.
"In light of the U.S. Supreme Court's leaked majority opinion overturning the 49-year-old precedent in Roe v Wade," Whitmer continued, "my lawsuit to protect the right to legal abortion in Michigan is more critical than ever."
Last month, she said, she filed a (separate) lawsuit and used her executive authority to urge the Michigan Supreme Court to immediately resolve whether Michigan's state constitution protects the right to abortion. If Roe is officially overturned by the Supreme Court, which may happen any day, abortion could become illegal in Michigan in nearly any circumstance, including in cases of rape and incest, because of a 1931 law on the books banning abortion in Michigan.
"We must protect the nearly 2.2 million women in Michigan who would lose the right to make decisions about their bodies," she said.
"However we personally feel about abortion, a woman's health, not politics, should drive important medical decisions," Whitmer said. "A woman must be able to make her own medical decisions with the advice of a healthcare professional she trusts. Politicians shouldn't make that decision. If the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to protect the constitutional right to an abortion, the Michigan Supreme Court should step in. We must trust women, our family, neighbors, and friends, to make decisions that are best for them about their bodies and lives." Contrary to her remarks, the abortion issue is divided largely along party lines.
At the same time Whitmer filed the suit (April 7), Planned Parenthood of Michigan and a Michigan abortion provider filed a lawsuit in state court that seeks a court order blocking the state attorney general from enforcing the state's abortion ban and asks the court to affirm the right to an abortion under the Michigan Constitution, reported Forbes.com.
A May 3 statement released by the Supreme Court said: "Justices circulate draft opinions internally as a routine and essential part of the Court's confidential deliberative work. Although the document described in yesterday's reports is authentic, it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case."
Whitmer's Office release stated that, for Michigan residents, this issue is beyond settled. According to a poll from January 2022, 67.3% of Michiganders support Roe and 65.7% support repealing Michigan's 1931 trigger ban on abortion. Over 77% believe abortion should be a woman's decision. A sizeable majority of Michiganders agree that abortion is a decision to for a woman to make in consultation with a medical professional she trusts. The release did not cite the source of the poll. Polls results are proving not to be a good source to base arguments on, anyway.
While Whitmer stated over 77% of Michigan residents support unrestricted abortion, a poll published in the New York times found a much narrower margin. The Times poll found 59% of voters favored legal abortion in all or most cases, while 40% favored abortion being illegal in all or most cases. The Times reported that the poll was published by A.P. VoteCast, a survey conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago. These surveys were conducted online and by phone, largely in the days before the election.
Meanwhile, clickondetroit reported that results from a new WDIV/Detroit News survey found 67.3% of Michigan voters want Roe v. Wade left in place while only 19.1% of voters want Roe v. Wade overturned by the Supreme Court. A 2020 article published by the Michigan Advance claimed that a poll, done by North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling in Michigan, found that 77% of voters in Michigan agree that any decision about pregnancy should be made by the woman with the support of people she loves and trusts, while just 19% disagree. The Advance did say in the article, however, that of the participants of the poll, 79% were independent voters and only 57% of Republicans, which could be taken as having skewed the survey.