The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Monday that county prosecutors can enforce the states pre-Roe v. Wade abortion ban. This comes after a state judge issued an injunction blocking state officials from enforcing the ban.
The ruling allows county prosecutors to file criminal charges against those who provide abortion services under Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban, according to the The Detroit News. The order does not take effect for 21 days.
The three-judge panel dismissed a request by anti-abortion groups and the prosecutors in Kent and Jackson counties to overturn a lower court stay on Michigan's abortion ban.
The appeals court judges said the Michigan Catholic Conference, Right to Life of Michigan and the two prosecutors lack standing to request Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher's injunction in a suit filed by Planned Parenthood of Michigan be overturned and her case assumed by the higher court. Gleicher's injunction has been in place since May, before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a half-century of abortion rights on June 24.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jerard Jarzynka and Kent County Prosecutor Christopher Becker, the panel ruled Monday, are not bound by the injunction because they are not parties to the case nor could they be because the Court of Claims order covered state actors only.
"The preliminary injunction does not apply to county prosecutors," the three-judge panel wrote.
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Planned Parenthood of Michigan said in a statement to the outlet that it will continue to provide abortions “in accordance with the law.” It added that patients can keep their appointments scheduled.
Townhall covered how Michigan’s pro-abortion Attorney General Dana Nessel said that she would not enforce the state’s 1931 abortion ban. Her remarks came before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“This incredibly draconian and strict, 1931 law would criminalize abortion in this state with virtually no exceptions. No exception for rape, for incest, no exception for medical emergencies,” she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I refuse to enforce this draconian law.”
“Politicians do not belong in our doctor’s offices, they don’t belong in our bedrooms and should not be making these kinds of decisions on behalf of the American public and behalf of women across America,” she added.
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