Latest news with #MichiganPride
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Court strikes down Michigan's 24-hour waiting period for abortions
A sign at the Michigan Pride rally in Lansing on June 26, 2022. | Photo by Laina G. Stebbins Michigan's mandatory 24-hour waiting period for receiving abortions has been struck down after a Michigan Court of Claims judge determined Tuesday that the rule was unconstitutional. Michigan voters enshrined the right to an abortion and 'reproductive freedom for all' into the state constitution in the November 2022 election through a ballot measure. In February 2024, abortion rights groups filed a lawsuit challenging several of Michigan's provisions around abortion access, asserting that they work against Michiganders' new constitutional rights. In addition to the mandatory 24-hour waiting period, Michigan Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel struck down requirements surrounding mandatory counseling that required abortion providers to provide an image of a fetus to patients receiving abortions. Another stricken rule had barred nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives and physician assistants from performing abortions However, Patel upheld a rule that requires abortion providers to screen for signs of coercion, saying the rule does not violate the constitutional right to reproductive health care. Michigan voters OK abortion, voting rights and term limits proposals 'The interest to be protected in this case is the fundamental right to reproductive freedom. The Court has deemed the majority of the provisions in the challenged laws to unconstitutionally burden and infringe upon that right,' Patel wrote in her opinion Tuesday. Striking down the 24-hour waiting period has been a top priority for abortion access advocates, as Planned Parenthood of Michigan reported in 2023, when lawmakers were considering a repeal, that the rule causes around 150 patients to cancel their appointments each month due to difficulty scheduling with work, transportation or other reasons. Plaintiffs arguing for the repeal in the case argued that the waiting period does nothing to promote patient health or protect against coercion into getting an abortion. Instead, proponents for the repeal argued that the waiting period works to ensure it becomes more difficult, logistically and medically, to receive quality abortion care earlier in a pregnancy. '…the Court finds that the mandatory 24-hour waiting period burdens and infringes upon patients' rights to reproductive freedom,' Patel wrote in her opinion Tuesday. 'The mandatory delay exacerbates the burdens that patients experience seeking abortion care, including by increasing costs, prolonging wait times, increasing the risk that a patient will have to disclose their decision to others, and potentially forcing the patient to forgo a medication abortion for a more invasive procedure.' Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a staunch supporter of abortion rights, has long supported eliminating the state's waiting period placed on abortions, saying in a statement Tuesday that the court's decision recognizes the struck down provisions as burdensome and obstructive to abortion care. 'This ruling affirms what Michiganders made clear when they voted to enshrine a fundamental right to reproductive freedom in our state constitution: that deeply personal medical decisions belong to individuals and their providers,' Nessel said. 'I will continue fighting to defend reproductive freedoms and protect bodily autonomy for Michigan residents.' Meanwhile, Right to Life of Michigan President Amber Roseboom said in a statement that the court's decision endangers womens' ability to make informed and safe medical decisions for themselves. 'Abortion is the only medical procedure of its kind in which the patient now is expected to go in blind,' Roseboom said in a statement. 'There is no question that women are at greater risk when they enter an abortion clinic in Michigan today than they were even a few years ago.' Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who championed the effort to remove the barriers, said the ruling 'reaffirms that Michigan is a state where you can make your own decisions about your own body with a trusted health care provider, without political interference.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republican AGs ask federal appeals panel to overturn Michigan's conversion therapy ban
LGBTQ+ flags fly outside the state Senate building during Michigan Pride in Lansing on June 26, 2022. | Photo by Laina G. Stebbins The Republican attorneys general for Iowa and South Carolina are leading a coalition of 11 states in seeking to overturn Michigan's ban on conversion therapy for minors. Contending that the law censors therapists' speech, the coalition filed a brief Friday in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals requesting a reversal of a decision issued in January by U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering. Beckering, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, found the Michigan law does not govern free expression of religion or speech, but instead professional conduct, which she said the state has a 'legitimate interest' in regulating. Passed in 2023 by Michigan's then Democratic-led Legislature, the law prohibits mental health professionals from seeking to alter a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity, a practice known as conversion therapy, or risk facing disciplinary action that could result in the loss of their professional licenses. However, the group of Republican attorneys general says the ruling sets up a 'censorship regime' that forces mental health professionals to 'choose between making a living in a licensed profession and retaining their right to speak freely.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The case stems from a lawsuit filed in July 2024 by Catholic Charities of Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties on behalf of Emily McJones, a licensed therapist from Lansing, whose practice, Little Flower Counseling, provides 'evidenced-based treatments from a perspective that is faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church, while loving and caring for each client.' However, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry has determined that not only do conversion therapies 'lack scientific credibility and clinical utility,' there is 'evidence that such interventions are harmful.' That stance is shared by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as the American Psychological Association and the National Association of School Psychologists. Regardless, the Republican attorneys general argue Michigan's ban risks tainting medicine with politics. In addition to the attorneys general in Iowa and South Carolina, the brief is signed on by AGs in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, and North Dakota. 'Free speech should protect the medical field from political pressure seeking to stifle scientific advancements. And it is far from clear that the ideological partisan bent embodied in Michigan's law is 'settled' in any meaningful sense,' the brief said. A similar law in Colorado is set to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court later this fall.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Abortion rights group to target Huizenga, Barrett and James in 2026 midterms
A sign at the Michigan Pride rally in Lansing on June 26, 2022. | Photo by Laina G. Stebbins EMILYs List plans to target three Republican members of the U.S. House from Michigan in the 2026 midterms. The group, which backs women candidates who support abortion rights, announced Wednesday that U.S. Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland), Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) and John James (R-Shelby Twp.) are key targets for Democrats to flip. They are among 46 House Republicans being targeted nationwide, with EMILYs List president Jessica Mackler saying in a statement that the group will be 'putting their extremism on blast.' A press release points to the three members' support of the short-term spending plan passed by House Republicans, which the group says could undermine health care for more than 100,000 constituents in each member's district, as well as the fact that all three have previously been endorsed by President Donald Trump. Additionally, the group noted all three lawmakers voted in January for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, a bill they say would penalize doctors for providing life-saving care. Sara Spain, a spokesperson for EMILYs List, said that people are currently 'feeling a lot of pain.' 'It's very clear that American people are really looking for leaders who are coming from their communities, who are understanding the struggles and aren't going to be this rubber stamp for Trump's Project 2025 extremism to kind of help us out of the crisis that we're facing,' Spain said. The efforts go beyond advertising, Spain said, as EMILYs List works to recruit candidates to challenge the incumbent Republicans. 'Something EMILYs List really prioritizes, especially in races like these that are key flips, is doing everything we can to meet voters in a unique way,' Spain said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
