Republican Says He'll Sue Over Whitmer's Abortion Access Lawsuit

Michigan Advance

April 12, 2022

State Rep. Beau LaFave (R-Iron Mountain) blasted Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for filing a lawsuit to enshrine the right to an abortion in the Michigan Constitution and announced he is filing his own anti-abortion lawsuit.

“I plan to file a lawsuit to defend the strongest pro-life law in the country against the predations of radicals like Gretchen Whitmer and Planned Parenthood,” said LaFave in a statement Friday. “I have always sought to protect the sanctity of human life. Every human life is worth fighting for.”

Last week, Whitmer filed a lawsuit with the Oakland County Circuit Court as a proactive step to preserve abortion access in Michigan as the 1973 landmark decision in Roe v. Wade awaits a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court’s in another major abortion access case.

LaFave is in the running for the GOP nomination for secretary of state, along with Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry and former President Donald Trump-endorsed Kristina Karamo, a GOP state committee member. The nominee will be chosen at the state convention April 23 in Grand Rapids and will then face off against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in November.

Legislators from 35 states, including LaFave, submitted an amicus brief in Dobbs arguing the court previously invented a supposed right to abortion not found in the Constitution.

LaFave argues that the Supreme Court’s decision that legalizes abortion interferes with the constitutional authority of the state government to pass laws to prevent abortion.

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