News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
91.7FM Alpena and WCML-TV Channel 6 Alpena are off the air. Click here to learn more.

GOP leaders ask appeals court to let abortion ban take effect

Source: Guttmacher Institute; Credit: Haidee Chu and Kristin Gourlay/NPR

The Legislature's Republican leaders have asked the Michigan Court of Appeals to allow the state's ban on most abortions to go into effect.

The GOP leaders want the appeals court to lift an injunction on enforcing the law. That injunction was signed by a Michigan Court of Claims judge.

The Republican challenge says Judge Elizabeth Gleicher overstepped her authority when she blocked enforcement of the 1931 law, which was dormant until the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Roe v. Wade decision. That statute outlaws all abortions except to save the life of a pregnant woman.

Abortion remains legal in Michigan while that injunction remains in effect.

In a separate case, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has also asked the Michigan Supreme Court for a ruling that abortion rights are protected by the state Constitution.

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network.