Is Abortion Legal in Michigan?

As per the data, there are over 10,000 kids are in foster care in Michigan, and there are still close to 200 kids that need adoptive families.

It isn’t a secret that teenage or unwanted pregnancies exist, a lot. But when it comes to the question of whose right to life it is, the laws meddle a lot.

So, is abortion legal in Michigan? Let’s find out!

Is Abortion Legal in Michigan?

In the aftermath of the overruling of Roe vs Wade, a more than half-century-old precedent, in Michigan, abortion remains legal. Act 328 of 1931 became enforceable for the time being.

This Act restricts abortion and the sale of drugs to induce abortions other than designed and express prescription by a medical practitioner.

Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit against the 1931 Michigan abortion law. The Supreme Court of Michigan held this act violates constitutional provisions.

The Proposal 3

“The Proposal 3” also called “The Reproductive Freedom for All initiatives“, is passed and effectively codifies abortion and its rights in Michigan Constitution.

And removes any speculations about Michigan abortion bans, with a percentage of 56.66% on the ballot for proposal 3.

The new amendment will add another chapter to the state constitution by protecting all matters concerning pregnancy.

This proposal is inclusive of Health care, prenatal care, contraceptives, sterilization process, miscarriage management, postpartum care, and more.

It provides explicit constitutional rights to every individual, that includes minors. It does not restrict abortions to fetus viability.

The state will not be prosecuting any person enforcing their right mentioned by the amendment. And most crucial aspect of Prop 3 mentions is that any contrary state law shall be in effect.

The Comprehensive History

The U.S.A. nearly a century ago, set the ground, by legalizing abortion rights, for the entire world. This act was carried on by a pragmatic approach, in the landmark of Roe vs Wade (1973).

After a continuous struggle and enactment of a multitudinous plethora of documents like the Magna Carta (1215) to the U.S. Constitution, (1787), in 1791, one of the most influential bills was passed, giving rights public and termed as “Bill of Rights”

Now in 1890, Harvard law school published a thesis on the right to privacy as the right to be left alone by the future Highest Court Justice Louis Brandeis and his colleague.

It was the era of ascendancy of the yellow press and concomitantly, there was a revolution in the technology sector that put in the idea of the evolution of the right to privacy on tracks.

The social changes in society regarding reproductive rights added another chapter to protect the privacy of individuals.

In Michigan, Act 328 of 1931 under sections 750.14 to section 750.15 makes laws on abortions. It has penalized the sale of drugs that will terminate pregnancy in any form unless there is written prescription advice by medical practitioners.

The U.S. drafted an American law institute Penal code to access abortions in the country in 1958. In Eisenstadt vs. Baird, abortion access was extended to the rights of unmarried girls to receive birth contraceptives.

Griswold vs. Connecticut (1965)– The milestone in legal history in metastasizing the right to privacy and the body was ruled by the famous case of Griswold vs. Connecticut in 1965.

In New Haven on November 1962, Estelle Griswold, the executive director of Connecticut’s Planned Parenthood League, pioneered a planned parenthood and birth control clinic. And 10 days later police arrested her.

In the nineties, it was considered a felony the usage of contraceptives even for couples. And Mrs. Griswold was convicted and fined 100 dollars. Unsatisfied with the verdict, she filed an appeal in a higher court.

On appeal in 1965, The Supreme Court heard the case and finally struck down the statute that fined Mrs. Griswold, and inter alias stated that the Bill of Rights directly recognizes the right to privacy and that of the body.

This judgment further points out that the constitution does not implicitly provide o the issue of privacy but the court’s opinion of it as a fundamental right.

Roe vs Wade (1973)

The precedent decided in Griswold set forward as the basis of ruling the most convoluted judgment on abortions, and the intricate case of the 20th century, Roe vs Wade, 1973.

Under the alias, Jane Roe, McCorvey filed a case against the district attorney, Henry Wade, and put into question a Texas Statute which restricts abortion unless the life of the pregnant woman is endangered.

She was twenty-one years old and separated from her husband. And in her third pregnancy. Victimized by the statute that banned abortion, she had to continue her pregnancy to full term.

When her suit was heard in Apex Court legal issue involved in the case was the juxtaposition between the mother’s right over her own body and the life of the unborn child.

In the remarkable judgment of the majority of 5:4, declared the right to her own body choices during the first trimester,

In the second trimester, the state will ensure the health of the woman and in the third semester, the fetus falls under the category “capable of life outside the woman’s womb” and there will penal repercussions for it.

In the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the third rule explained by the court that state regulation of abortion to the third trimester of pregnancy was overruled in the landmark of Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). This case expanded the right over one’s body over the interest of the state.

The Court inferred that a woman has a right to abortion until fetal viability, and again reiterated the right to abortion under the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution.

In Whole Woman’s Health vs. Hellersstedt 2016, held Texas will not be in control of the delivery of abortions, with the reasoning that it puts undue influence on women.

Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)

In 2022, the famous controversial case of Dobbs vs Jackson, over-ruling the ruling in Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood vs Casey.

In 2021, it was reinstated that anyone who opted for medical abortions as and on the prescription by medical practitioners. Also in 2022, the latest ruling by the U.S.A. apex court reiterated that the Bill of Rights does not hold abortion rights in it.

But Michigan chooses to reinstate their act of 1931 for the time and put a hold on the law to ban abortions. In 2022, it finally called the Act of 1933 a violation of the constitution and decided to legalize abortions.

Conclusion: Is Abortion Legal in Michigan?

There had been a plethora of convolution for this Proposal. Reproductive activists and radical feminists called this proposal a pioneer to restore abortion right again. This is a radical amendment as it makes sterilization.

While the pro-life activists are not happy with their defeat and are fighting against Prop 3 as they believe parental consent is quintessential when it comes to their minor children’s life.

Some also believe this amendment is very dangerous as this provides vague ambiguity in the context, as repercussions even a 12-year-old child can opt to get sterilized without their parent’s consent.

There is no black vs white but a grey section is formed when it comes to abortion. The laws on abortion are De-Jure while their effectivity and applicability are De-Facto.

Prop 3 is not yet effective, it means the act of 1931 is still in force and The Proposal 3 is still to be added to the State Constitution.

Also, find out where is abortion legal in the world here!

FAQs

1. When did abortion become legal in Michigan?

It was under Act 328 of 1931, abortion became legal in Michigan, restricted to certain circumstances.

2. What is the new abortion law in Michigan?

As per Proposal 3 or The Reproductive Freedom for All initiatives, add abortion rights to the constitution of Michigan and it will include all the matters related to pregnancy.

3. Is abortion legal in Michigan in 2022?

Abortions are legal in Michigan. The Michigan voters decided to protect abortion for the state and enshrined them in the state constitution.

4. Is abortion legal in Michigan in 2021?

In 2021, Michigan Courts temporarily hold on to the law decided in Dobbs vs. Jackson, and challenges to the decisions were still pending.

5. What are Michigan abortion laws for minors?

Underaged pregnancies or pregnant minor women can choose to terminate their pregnancies with and without the consent of their parents and guardians.

Also if they do not want the involvement of any guardian in their decision they can opt for a judicial bypass.

6. Michigan abortion law viability?

According to the viability of the fetus, prop 3 suggests, pregnancy can be terminated even after fetus viability and not just because there is a threat to the pregnant woman’s life or the fetus.

Last Updated on March 11, 2023 by Gourvi gupta