Roe Is Not Enough: End Michigan's 24-Hour Waiting Period For Abortion

by Jon King, Michigan Advance
February 12, 2024

Saying three long-established state abortion regulations, including a 24-hour waiting period, “run roughshod” over Michigan’s constitutionally-guaranteed right to an abortion, a reproductive rights organization has filed suit against the state.

The Center for Reproductive Rights filed the lawsuit last week in the Michigan Court of Claims on behalf of Northland Family Planning Centers and Medical Students for Choice, alleging the regulations violate the 2022 passage of a ballot proposal that enshrined the right to an abortion in Michigan’s constitution.

Proposal 3, also called the Reproductive Freedom for All (RFFA) amendment by organizers, struck the 1931 ban on abortions from Michigan law and created additional protections for people seeking reproductive health care.

However, the lawsuit claims the laws in question “violate the RFFA by imposing medically unjustified restrictions on abortion, singling out abortion care for uniquely onerous treatment, and discriminating against Michiganders who already face health inequities, including Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC), low-income communities, and people in rural areas of the state.”

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