By Dave Andrusko
On Monday the pro-life Michigan legislature asked to be allowed to intervene in a lawsuit over the state’s now-dormant 1931 abortion law.
In a motion filed in the Court of Claims, “the House and Senate asked to intervene as defendants in the lawsuit and asked the court to reconsider its May 17 order, in which it issued a preliminary injunction that would bar enforcement of the law, in the event that Roe v. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Paul Egan of the Detroit Free Press reported.
“The Legislature’s motion to intervene is timely, coming just weeks after the court entered the (preliminary injunction) order,” the House and Senate said in a court filing. “There is no question that the Legislature has strong interests in ensuring that constitutional challenges to Michigan statutes present an actual controversy suitable for judicial resolution and, when necessary, in defending justiciable challenges. No existing party will adequately represent those interests here.”
As NRL News Today reported, earlier “Michigan Right to Life, the Michigan Catholic Conference and prosecutors from Jackson and Kent counties also filed motions to intervene in the case.”
The legislature’s filing “is in support of a 1931 law, which remains on the books but has not been enforceable since 1973 under the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling” Egan reported. “It would criminalize all abortions except those performed to save the life of a pregnant person.”
“This phony lawsuit is illegitimate and outrageous,” state Rep. Pamela Hornberger, R-Chesterfield, said of the suit brought by Michigan Planned Parenthood.
“The plaintiff Planned Parenthood pushing a pro-choice agenda, the defendant Attorney General who has stated she will not uphold the law, and the judge who formerly represented and donates to Planned Parenthood, all want the same outcome. It’s a blatant conflict of interest and undermines the public’s trust in our judicial system,” Hornberger said.
Ordinarily, a state’s attorney general would appeal. But “Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has said the 1931 law is draconian and would endanger the health and lives of Michigan women,” Egan reported. Nessel “has said she will not enforce it if it takes effect.” She added earlier the ruling a ‘victory for the millions of Michigan women fighting for their rights.’”