On Friday, a circuit court judge put in place an injunction against a Michigan law on abortion that was passed in the 1930s, according to a report from Fox News:
A 91-year-old Michigan law banning abortion won’t go into effect quite yet.
On Friday, a judge blocked county prosecutors from enforcing an almost century-old law that bans abortion, doesn’t include rape or incest exceptions and would punish anyone who carries out the procedure.
As we’ve written about previously, many states are re-imposing the laws that were on the books about abortion before the Supreme Courts’ Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973, which legalized it nationwide. And like those other laws, this 1931 Michigan law has an exception protecting the life of the mother.
The report continues:
However, the state Court of Appeals issued a preliminary injunction shortly after it went into effect, allowing abortion to continue in the state.
While the preliminary injunction prevented most state prosecutors from enforcing the law, county prosecutors were still allowed to go after abortion providers.
On Aug. 1, a state Court of Appeals panel affirmed that county prosecutors were allowed to continue enforcing the ban because they were not under the authority of the state attorney general.
Almost immediately, the state’s progressive Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer took to the Twitters to crow about her administration’s, ahem, win for women:
Click On Detroit reports on Whitmer’s jublilant response to the ruling:
In response to the judge’s decision Friday, Whitmer said she is grateful for the ruling which will “protect women” and allow nurses and doctors to “keep caring for their patients without fear of prosecution.”
“The lack of legal clarity about abortion in Michigan has already caused far too much confusion for women who deserve certainty about their health care, and hardworking medical providers who should be able to do their jobs without worrying about being thrown behind bars. Once, over the course of a single day, abortion was legal in the morning, illegal around lunch time, and legal in the evening. We cannot have this kind of whiplash about something as fundamental as a woman’s right to control her own body,” Whitmer wrote, in part, Friday. “Michigan women are understandably scared and angry, and they deserve better than being treated as second class citizens.”
But this isn’t “a final ruling” on the matter:
The judge granted a preliminary injunction Friday morning, but it’s important to note that this is not a final ruling. County prosecutors are temporarily not allowed to enforce the 1931 abortion ban. The issue must move further through the court, and a judge must issue a final decision.
Judge Cunningham set a pre-trial date for Nov. 21, which falls within the 6-month timeframe required to begin the trial once the preliminary injunction is issued.
Luckily, the people of Michigan might have the final say, anyway. Click On Detroit reports that the abortion ban could go in effect, once again, if a ballot initiative is approved by The Michigan Board of State Canvassers, later in August, to be placed on November’s ballot.