Right to Life sues to block Michigan abortion rights law
LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Thousands of people attended a "March for Life" event Wednesday at the Michigan Capitol lawn in Lansing.
Attendees said that following a series of political losses post-Roe, their mission feels even more critical.
"Today's date has special significance," said Genevieve Marnon, who serves as the legislative director for the Right to Life of Michigan. "It's the one-year anniversary of the passage of the dreadful Proposal 3, which enshrined a right to abortion in the Michigan Constitution."
The group marched to the Michigan Supreme Court building in light of a new federal lawsuit filed Wednesday against Proposal 3, which placed the right to abortion care into the Michigan constitution.
"The claim that's being made in this lawsuit is that Proposition Three violates federal constitutional protections. Protection for free exercise of religion for medical professionals, for example," Marnon said.
Michigan's 2022 ballot Proposal 3 was approved by voters last November with 56% of the vote.
"It shouldn't be lost on people that these right-wing organizations and radical Republicans in the Michigan legislature are cherry-picking courts to try to once again overturn a constitutionally guaranteed right because they can't win with voters," said Stacey LaRouche, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's, press secretary in a statement.
A similar ballot proposal passed in Ohio on Tuesday this week.
"I'm disappointed in Ohio. We had the same problem there that I think we had here," Marnon said. "We had a lot of out-of-state money that was pouring into the Vote Yes campaign, just like we saw in Michigan last year. And it's a sad day for Ohio that they've enshrined a right to abortion in their constitution."