KALAMAZOO, MI – A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Right to Life of Michigan that challenged a state Constitutional amendment providing the right to abortion. Right to Life of Michigan and other plaintiffs showed no injury by the voter-approved amendment and thus had no legal standing to bring the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney in Kalamazoo said.
Nearly 57 percent of voters backed Proposal 3 in November 2022. Abortion opponents named Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as defendants as they sought to halt access to abortion in Michigan.
“Never has such a super-right been created under a state constitution – a right that removes the legislative branch from the process and thus deprives plaintiffs of their fundamental rights, including the right to a republican form of government,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit was intended to “undermine Michigan voters and strip them of their fundamental rights to an abortion,” Paula Thornton Greear, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, said earlier.
Right to Life added plaintiffs, including legislators, a pro-life physician, pro-life organizations, a pregnant mother and a mother who intends to become pregnant again. Parents of children in public schools contended their children would be subject to sexual exploitation.
The judge disagreed and said that the amendment “does not mention school officials, let alone require school officials or a school district to do anything. Plaintiffs plead only speculative future injuries. Plaintiffs have no pled facts (that) show even a likelihood that their children will seek contraception, an abortion, gender reassignment, puberty blocking medication, sterilization or an intimate relationship with an adult.” The judge said none of the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the constitutional amendment.
