An attorney says he will take up the case opposing Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s challenge to Michigan’s dormant statutory abortion ban. That ban would likely take effect if the U-S Supreme Court overturns the Roe versus Wade decision.
David Kallman says he represents prosecutors in Jackson and Kent counties who are among the 13 prosecutors named as defendants in Whitmer’s lawsuit. (The Jackson and Kent county prosecutors’ offices did not respond to messages left by Michigan Public Radio.)
Kallman says Whitmer is stretching the words of the Michigan Constitution to create a privacy protection that includes abortion rights. Kallman also says the governor’s lawsuit is premature while Roe versus Wade remains in effect.
“Unless and until a prosecutor tries to prosecute someone under that law, where’s the case and controversy?” he told Michigan Public Radio.
Kallman says he’s taking up the lawsuit because Attorney General Dana Nessel says she won’t defend the dormant 1931 state law, despite a practice by the department that allows for state lawyers to operate within “firewalls” when cases pit one branch of state government against another.
Whitmer has also asked the Michigan Supreme Court to bypass lower courts to hear arguments and make a preemptive decision. The court is accepting briefs before it determines how the case will proceed.
