Oakland County Judge Orders Preliminary Injunction Temporarily Blocking Michigan’s 1931 Abortion Ban
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says, 'I am grateful for this ruling that will protect women and ensure nurses and doctors can keep caring for their patients without fear of prosecution'
Jacob Cunningham, the Oakland County Circuit Court Judge, ordered a preliminary injunction blocking Michigan’s abortion ban. The ruling happens after several days of an intense court battle over reproductive rights.
The state was asking for a continued injection on the enforcement of Michigan’s 1931 abortion law. The move comes after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer released a statement following the ruling. “I am grateful for this ruling that will protect women and ensure nurses and doctors can keep caring for their patients without fear of prosecution,” Whitmer said in a statement. “I am particularly grateful to Attorney General Dana Nessel and her team for their work on behalf of the state.”
Attorney General Dana Nessel also released a statement. “Abortion is critical healthcare,” Dana Nessel said. “Uncertainty around the law has a chilling effect on the conduct of doctors and therefore limits access to care for Michigan women. Maintaining access to reproductive healthcare is absolutely necessary for the health and well-being of women and it is our duty to ensure that access for the roughly two million women of reproductive age who call Michigan home.”
She added, “Absent this preliminary injunction, physicians face a very real threat of prosecution depending on where they practice. There is no doubt that the statue criminalizing abortion is in direct conflict with the ability of the medical community to provide the standard of care consistent with their education, training, expertise and oath. Women do not need to be protected from themselves by denying them the ability to make personal medical decisions consistent with their own moral, cultural, religious and ethical beliefs. Restricting access to reproductive healthcare jeopardizes the ability of physicians to deliver appropriate care and it denies women the right to decide the most intimate issues regarding their health, their bodies and their lives.”
