Democrat Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed a notice in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan asking the court to dismiss a pro-life lawsuit, citing the Supreme Court’s June ruling on access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
As CatholicVote previously reported, the Michigan case in question was filed by Right to Life of Michigan in November 2023. The organization sought to overturn an amendment, which was commonly known as Proposal 3, that had added a “right to abortion” to the state constitution.
“Right to Life argued that Proposal 3 used vague and extreme language that opened too many possibilities for abortion and other actions violating the dignity of human life,” CatholicVote reported at the time of the lawsuit’s filing. “It also claimed that Proposal 3 is unconstitutional, saying it violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee not to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”
Right to Life also claimed that the creation of a “super-right” to abortion violates the Constitution by making it immune to legislative action and pointed out that Proposal 3 overrides religious objections to abortion, violating the First Amendment.
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When Nessel filed a motion to dismiss the case in January, Right to Life amended its complaint. Now, Nessel has called for the court to dismiss the case again, arguing that the Supreme Court’s ruling in June that upheld access to mifepristone should influence the lower court’s ruling on the Right to Life case.
“The Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding access to mifepristone underscores the lack of standing for individuals and organizations who oppose abortion on moral, ideological, or policy grounds to deprive millions of Michigan women of their constitutional right,” Nessel stated in a news release, adding:
As I have always argued, this lawsuit is a blatant, politically motivated assault on a fundamental liberty, devoid of merit. Just as the Supreme Court dismissed the AHM [Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine] plaintiffs’ case, so too should the Court reject this unfounded challenge.
Right to Life has not yet responded to Nessel’s call for dismissal.
LifeNews Note: Hannah Hiester writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
