 |
| Photo Credit: AP. |
A Michigan judge Friday blocked the enforcement of Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban following two days of witness testimony from abortion experts, providers and the state’s chief medical officer, The Associated Press reports.
The ruling
is coming after an order by a state Court of Appeals this month that county
prosecutors were not covered by a May order and could enforce the prohibition
after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade which gave women
unprecedented access to abortion, according to The Associated Press.
“The harm to
the body of women and people capable of pregnancy in not issuing the injunction
could not be more real, clear, present and dangerous to the court,” Oakland
County Judge Jacob Cunningham said during his ruling Friday, The Associated
Press reported.
However an
attorney for two Republican county prosecutors, said he would appeal the
ruling.
“The judge
ignored all of the clear legal errors and problems in this case, it appears to
me, simply because the issue is abortion,” Kallman told The Associated Press
following the hearing.
Judge
Cunningham filed a restraining order against county prosecutors hours after the
August 1 appeals court decision and following a request from attorneys
representing Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to The Associated
Press.
Will prosecutors enforce abortion ban in Michigan?
The
Associated Press reported that a majority of prosecutors in counties where
there are abortion clinics said they will not enforce the ban but Republican
prosecutors in Kent, Jackson and Macomb counties said they should be able to
enforce the 1931 law.
Cunningham
granted the preliminary injunction after listening to arguments Wednesday and
Thursday. The ruling keeps abortion legal in Michigan until the Michigan Supreme
Court rules otherwise or voters decide against in the fall.
Cunningham
found all three of the state’s witnesses “extremely credible” while dismissing
testimony from the defense witnesses as “unhelpful and biased,” The Associated
Press cited the ruling.
The 1931
abortion law in Michigan which bans abortion in all instances except the life
of the mother was triggered after the Roe v. Wade ruling.