Dozens Of Michigan Dems Sign Brief To Protect Roe V. Wade

Michigan Advance

September 25, 2021

Forty-five Michigan Democratic lawmakers signed onto an amicus brief demanding that the U.S. Supreme Court uphold Roe v. Wade.

“Abortion is health care. We will not sit quietly while a certain small faction attempts to dismantle a person’s right to their own reproductive freedom,” Sens. Jim Ananich (D-Flint) and Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) said in a statement Monday. “While the current activist majority on the Supreme Court may be signaling their intent to undo or undermine protections promised to us under Roe v. Wade, this brief is a clear and urgent message that justices’ personal beliefs should not interfere with the medical care of residents in this country.”

In May, the Supreme Court, which is considered to have its most right-wing tilt in decades, agreed to hear arguments Dec. 1 on a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks. The case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, poses a significant challenge to Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling that declared abortion to be a constitutional right.

Since that announcement, the Supreme Court also issued a 5-4 opinion against preventing a strict abortion ban in Texas from taking effect. The law bans abortions once cardiac activity can be detected and allows private citizens to file lawsuits against abortion providers and anyone who aids an abortion. It provides no exceptions for incest or rape.

The 45 Michigan lawmakers who signed the amicus brief include Sens. Ananich, Chang, Rosemary Bayer (D-Beverly Hills), Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), Erika Geiss (D-Taylor), Curtis Hertel (D-East Lansing), Adam Hollier (D-Detroit), Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor), Sean McCann (D-Kalamazoo), Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield), Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia), Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit), Paul Wojno (D-Warren) and Reps. Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck), Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), Felicia Brabec (D-Pittsfield), Kelly Breen (D-Novi), Julie Brixie (D-Meridian Twp.), Darrin Camilleri (D-Dearborn), Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit), Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford Twp.), Kevin Coleman (D-Westland), Jim Ellison (D-Royal Oak), Alex Garza (D-Taylor), Jim Haadsma (D-Battle Creek), Rachel Hood (D-Grand Rapids), Kara Hope (D-Holt), Cynthia Johnson (D-Detroit), Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth), Padma Kuppa (D-Troy), Donna Lasinski (D-Scio Twp.), Mari Manoogian (D-Birmingham), Christine Morse (D-Portage), Amos O’Neal (D-Saginaw), Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia), Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton Twp), Yousef Rabhi (D-Ann Arbor), Julie Rogers (D-Kalamazoo), Helena Scott (D-Detroit), Bill Sowerby (D-Clinton Twp.), Samantha Steckloff (D-Farmington Hills), Lori Stone (D-Warren), Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit), and Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park).

Nearly 900 lawmakers across the country signed onto the amicus brief.

“Michigan Senate Democrats will continue to do our part to fight for access to abortion health care here in Michigan. Today, these nearly 900 state lawmakers are saying unequivocally that reproductive health care must be protected across the board for all Americans,” Ananich and Chang said.

In July, six Michigan Republican members of Congress signed on to an amicus brief Thursday seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade, including U.S. Reps. Peter Meijer (R-Grand Rapids), Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland), Jack Bergman (R-Watersmeet), John Moolenaar (R-Midland), Tim Walberg (R-Tipton), and Lisa McClain (R-Bruce Twp.).

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