Michigan Abortion Restrictions Blocked by Court   

06.25.24 (PRESS RELEASE) – Today, a Michigan state court temporarily blocked three Michigan abortion restrictions. The laws will remain blocked as the case proceeds. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed this case in February on behalf of Northland Family Planning Centers and Medical Students for Choice. The lawsuit asserts that the three restrictions violate Michigan’s Reproductive Freedom for All constitutional amendment (RFFA), which passed on November 8, 2022, and is one of the broadest guarantees of reproductive freedom in the nation.  

In light of the RFFA, the Michigan legislature repealed some abortion restrictions in its last legislative session, but retained some of those that are most burdensome on patients, including:   

• A law mandating that abortion patients wait a minimum of 24 hours after receiving biased counseling materials before they can access care.   
• A law forcing clinicians to dispense, and patients to consume, biased counseling before and after the 24-hour waiting period. The biased counseling materials include information that is irrelevant, inaccurate, and stigmatizing.  
• A prohibition on qualified advanced practice clinicians (APCs) providing abortion care. APCs are permitted to administer the same medications and procedures for patients experiencing early miscarriage.   

All three restrictions were blocked in today’s ruling, with the exception of one element of the counseling scheme.  

“Today’s ruling is a game changer for Michigan abortion providers and their patients who have been forced to comply with these medically baseless laws for decades,” said Rabia Muqaddam, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “The abortion restrictions we’ve challenged in this case make it harder for patients to get abortion care and disproportionately impact Michiganders who already face health inequities, while having no medical justification whatsoever. We hope the Court will ultimately strike down these harmful restrictions for good. Michigan voters made it clear that access to abortion is a fundamental right in their state and must be free from ideological interference.” 

In her response to the lawsuit in late February, Michigan State Attorney General Nessel agreed that the court should temporarily block the three restrictions, and that they likely violate the RFFA. Although the Attorney General does not plan to defend the challenged laws, other attorneys within her office have intervened on behalf of the People of the State of Michigan to defend them.  

“Finally, our patients will be able to access the time-sensitive care they’re seeking right away without the state shaming them and making them wait,” said Renee Chelian, executive director of Northland Family Planning Centers. “Restrictions like those challenged in this case do not serve patients. Patients are fully capable of making their own healthcare decisions. While today’s decision is a positive first step, we hope that Michigan patients will never have to face these barriers to care again.”  

“Today’s decision will, for the time-being, enable tomorrow’s abortion providers to train in an environment that supports evidence-based medicine and the standard of care,” said Natalie White, student member, Medical Students for Choice in Michigan. “We hope that medical students in Michigan will no longer have to learn how to provide abortion care under prohibitive regulations that Michiganders overwhelmingly oppose.” 

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