Michigan officials are assuring medical providers that they can't currently be prosecuted for conducting abortions following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but some county prosecutors, including the one in Jackson County, disagree.
A preliminary injunction from a Court of Claims judge is temporarily blocking enforcement of a 1931 Michigan law that bans abortions unless they're done to save a pregnant person's life.
Michigan's Democratic Attorney General says the ruling makes clear abortion is currently legal in the state and that providers cannot be prosecuted while it remains in place.
But Jackson County Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka is among those who dispute that. He says county prosecutors could pursue cases against abortion providers because county prosecutors aren't directly named as parties in the pending case that led to the injunction.
"The lawsuit was Planned Parenthood versus the Attorney General's Office. It wasn't any of the 83 County prosecuting attorneys in the state of Michigan."
As of Tuesday, Jarzynka said police have yet to present him with evidence of any crime in his county involving abortion. But he says he would consider prosecuting that case if they did.