A Michigan blocked county prosecutors on Friday from enforcing the state's 1931 ban on abortion for the foreseeable future after two days of witness testimony from abortion experts, providers, and the state's chief medical officer.
The ruling came after the state Court of Appeals said earlier this month that state prosecutors were not covered by a May order and could enforce the prohibition following the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the United States Supreme Court.
Michigan's Abortion Ban
During his ruling on Friday, Oakland County Judge Jacob Cunningham said, "The harm to the body of women and people capable of pregnancy in not issuing the injunction could not be more real, clear, present, and dangerous to the court."
An attorney representing two Republican county prosecutors, David Kallman, said an appeal is planned. He noted that the judge ignored all of the clear legal errors and problems in the case, noting that it was simply due to the issue being abortion.
Cunningham had filed a restraining order against county prosecutors hours after the Aug. 1 appeals court decision and following a request from attorneys representing Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, as per Politico.
The situation comes as a majority of prosecutors in counties where there are abortion clinics have said that they will not enforce the ban. On the other hand, Republican prosecutors in Kent, Jackson, and Macomb counties have said they should be able to enforce the 1931 law.
The Oakland County judge found in the ruling that all three of the state's witnesses were "extremely credible" while dismissing testimony from the defense witnesses as "unhelpful and biased."
According to the Detroit Free Press, Cunningham told prosecutors to instead focus their efforts elsewhere, such as "criminal sexual conduct, homicide, arson, child and elder abuse, animal cruelty, and other violent and horrific crimes that we see in our society."
Focusing on Other Crimes
The judge also repeatedly referenced a possible change to the Michigan Constitution that will likely appear on ballots later this fall. He noted that while the state's Supreme Court may rule on the constitutionality of abortion at any time, voters may ultimately approve a proposed amendment that would expressly include the right to an abortion in the state Constitution.
"The ultimate expression of political power in this country comes not from the branches of our government and those that serve as public officials in them, but from the people. The citizens, who vote and participate in our fair and free electoral process," said Cunningham.
The 1931 Michigan law makes nearly all abortions a felony with no exemptions for rape or incest, only allowing it in the vaguely defined instances where abortion is necessary to "preserve the life" of the mother. Abortion providers and people who use medication to self-manage an abortion could face up to four years in prison.
Michigan is shaping up to be the fiercest battleground over the abortion process in the post-Roe era of the United States. The fate of abortion access will have downstream effects on people seeking the procedure in surrounding states given Michigan's location, the Washington Post reported.
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