ACLU, CRR, PPFA File Federal Lawsuit To Prevent Enforcement of Michigan's Legal Birth Definition Act

The... American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood Federation of America on Tuesday filed suit in federal court to prevent enforcement of a Michigan law that would change the legal definition of birth to the first moment any part of a fetus is outside a woman's body and is showing signs of life, the AP/Detroit Free Press (Bailey, AP/Detroit Free Press, 3/1). Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) in October 2003 vetoed the measure (SB 395), which includes language that would allow doctors to favor the health of a woman having a miscarriage over that of a fetus that potentially could not survive on its own but would ban so-called "partial-birth" abortion. Granholm said she vetoed the measure because it lacks a clear exception to protect the health of a pregnant woman. However, the Michigan Legislature overrode the veto in June 2004, allowing the measure to become law without Granholm's signature (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 6/10/04). The law is scheduled to go into effect on March 30, according to the Detroit News (Brand-Williams, Detroit News, 3/2).

Suit Details
In the suit, ACLU, CRR and PPFA say that the law is unconstitutional because it does not include exceptions for "all aspects" of a pregnant woman's health, including mental health, and could be interpreted as banning all abortion, the AP/Free Press reports (AP/Detroit Free Press, 3/1). "This radical law goes far beyond any other legislation in the country, threatening women's ability to obtain even a first-trimester abortion and, in some instances, preventing doctors from treating miscarriages," Mark Pawlowski, CEO of Planned Parenthood of South Central Michigan, said, adding, "It is part of a larger anti-choice agenda that extends beyond abortion to restricting family planning, access to contraception and women's right to medical privacy" (ACLU release, 3/1). Ed Rivet, legislative director for Right to Life Michigan who helped write the state law, said the case will be "watched closely" and could end up in the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the News. "This law is novel in its language regarding the definition of birth and in trying to define the outer perimeters of abortion," Rivet said (Detroit News, 3/2).


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