The Michigan Supreme Court has given Governor Gretchen Whitmer 14 days to file a brief arguing why the Michigan Constitution protects abortion rights.
The governor used her executive power to ask the court for a preemptive ruling in case the Roe v. Wade decision is overturned.
That could reactivate a dormant 1931 state law that would outlaw most abortions.
The court wants Whitmer to expand on her argument that the state constitution’s privacy protections cover abortion rights. Also whether a governor can use her authority to call a statute into question before the court, and why the Michigan Supreme Court should step in when a state Court of Claims judge has preemptively blocked enforcement of the abortion ban. Other parties have been given another 14 days to respond once Whitmer’s brief is filed.
A Michigan Court of Claims judge earlier this week blocked enforcement of the ban in the event Roe is reversed.
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