Oakland Circuit Judge Jacob Cunningham issued a preliminary injunction on Friday against Michigan’s 1931 law that bans early termination of a pregnancy in the state. The law will be suspended while a lawsuit seeking to overturn it, which has been brought by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, plays out in the courts.
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,” according to The Detroit News, which noted he argued the ban violated the constitutional requirement of due process.
“A person carrying a child has the right to bodily autonomy and integrity as well as a safe doctor-patient relationship free from government interference, as they have been able to do so for nearly 50 years," Cunningham said.
Moreover, Cunningham said enjoining the law was "overwhelmingly" in the public interest because a constitutional amendment on permitting abortion before the fetus reaches viability is set to appear on the ballot in the November 2022 elections, meaning Michiganders will be able to decide the issue democratically.
The Republican prosecutors who brought the case said they intend to appeal the decision to the state’s Court of Appeals.
Michigan’s law bans abortions in the state except when a pregnant person’s life is endangered by the pregnancy. It was inactivated in 1973, when the US Supreme Court ruled that abortion was legal nationwide in Roe vs. Wade, but it was never taken off the books, so when the high court overturned the 1973 decision in June, the law reactivated. A similar situation happened in eight other US states.