A judge has permanently struck down several strict abortion laws in Michigan, including the state's 24-hour waiting period.
Judge Sima Patel ruled that three restrictions violated Michigan’s Reproductive Freedom for All constitutional amendment, which was approved by voters in 2022 to protect abortion rights.
The ruling comes after the restrictions were challenged by Northland Family Planning Centers and Medical Students for Choice.
Highlights
- Judge Sima Patel permanently struck down Michigan's 24-hour abortion wait, citing violation of the 2022 Reproductive Freedom for All amendment.
- The ruling also removed requirements for fetal development info and allowed health professionals beyond physicians to perform abortions.
- Governor Gretchen Whitmer praised the decision as a victory for constitutional reproductive rights and patient-doctor autonomy.
Judge Patel overturned a 24-hour waiting period for abortions
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Women in Michigan will now be able to receive abortion healthcare without waiting the previously mandated 24 hours.
A “coercive and stigmatizing” rule that forced abortion providers to give patients a fetal development chart and information about alternatives was also scrapped.
A restriction that allowed only physicians and not other qualified health professionals, such as nurse practitioners, to perform abortions was struck down as part of the ruling.
“Michiganders have the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the right to abortion care, and the state cannot deny, burden, or infringe upon this freedom, barring a compelling state interest to protect the health of the individual seeking care,” Judge Patel said.
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The ruling has been welcomed by politicians and campaigners.
“I’m overjoyed to say that the Michigan Court of Claims has seen these restrictive provisions for what they are: an unconstitutional overreach that infringes on our constitutional right to make our own reproductive health decisions,” Governor Gretchen Whitmer said.
“Today’s ruling reaffirms what we already know: reproductive health decisions belong between a patient and their doctor, not the government. I’m proud to know that this Women’s Health Week, we can celebrate by protecting and expanding women’s fundamental rights and freedoms.”
Renee Chelian, executive director of Northland Family Planning Centers, described the restrictions as an insult to patients.
“It’s about time that these unnecessary and stigmatizing barriers to care are finally thrown out for good,” she said.
“We are hopeful that our patients will never again have to face such barriers to essential care in the great state of Michigan,” Chelian added.
Pamela Merritt, executive director of Medical Students for Choice, echoed Chelian’s statement and said the ruling would allow for evidence-based healthcare.
“Today’s decision allows the next generation of abortion providers to train in environments that provide evidence-based health care,” Merritt said.
“The standard of care has always included learning how to provide the patient-centered abortion care, and now future health care providers in Michigan can finally train and practice medicine without burdensome laws that do nothing to advance the practice of medicine.”
Michigan was one of the first states to enshrine the right to abortion into the state constitution in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
The Trump administration is trying to dismiss a lawsuit regarding the abortion pill mifepristone
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Since 2022, voters in 13 states have passed ballot measures protecting abortion rights, including Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York.
The court ruling comes as, in a surprising move, the Trump administration requested a federal judge dismiss a lawsuit regarding the abortion pill mifepristone.
Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri are seeking to restrict access to the pill after an FDA decision in 2016 eased access restrictions on the drug.
The Department of Justice contends that the states involved do not have the legal right to bring the case and that the lawsuit was filed in the wrong jurisdiction.