Michigan still has a 90-year-old state law on the books that bans abortions. The state hasn’t enforced the law since the 1970s, when Roe v. Wade set the federal precedent to allow abortions. But with the Supreme Court refusing to hear a challenge to an abortion ban in Texas, abortion providers in Michigan are now worried that federal precedent is about to change.
Abortion opponents are cheering the fact that the right to an the procedure in Michigan is unprotected if Roe v. Wade is overturned, the Associated Press reported.
But to Doctor Sarah Wallett, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Michigan, it’s a scary proposition.
Wallett said abortion access has been under threat for years, but this is the closest it’s come to disappearing.
“If there is a time for alarm, it is now. This is really real, and it is very possible that what we take for granted in Michigan could go away,” Wallettt said.
Michigan’s state law makes performing an abortion a felony. The only exception to the rule is if the pregnancy would jeopardize the health of the mother.
State Attorney General Dana Nessel has said she would not enforce the ban if federal precedent is overturned. The state Republican party countered that the Attorney General should enforce all laws, not just those she agrees with.
