FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan Executive Director Loren Khogali issued the following statement in response to the lawsuit Right to Life and others filed this week asking a federal court to overturn the voter-approved constitutional amendment that enshrines the right to reproductive freedom, including abortion, into the state constitution:
“This week, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the passage of Proposal 3. We also witnessed Ohio voters overwhelmingly pass a proposal to enshrine these same rights in their state constitution. Abortion has won at the ballot seven out of seven times since Roe was overturned. In the wake of a clear mandate from voters to protect the right to abortion, opponents have employed yet another tactic to spread fear and misinformation through a lawsuit filed in federal court asking for Proposal 3 to be overturned.
This newest attempt to ban abortion is not about the law at all. It is a shameful ploy to grab headlines and rally a base. But make no mistake: the aim of lawsuits like this one — to annihilate abortion access in every corner of the country — is harmful and dangerous, not, as Right to Life claims, ‘commonsense’.
Depriving people of the right to abortion care, the right to make decisions about their bodies, futures, and lives, is anything but sensible. Banning abortion nationwide – which is what these advocates want to do, full stop - will result in lost lives, economic hardship, end access to critical health care, and cause other harms. Those who will suffer most are the same people who already face systemic barriers to health care: Black people, other people of color, rural residents, people trying to make ends meet, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ people.
Since the downfall of Roe v. Wade, we have seen a national movement to fight back against those who want to take away our freedom to make our own decisions, define our own path, and safely care for our families and communities.
We will vigilantly monitor this case, and Michiganders may rest assured that we will not stop fighting back and moving forward to protect and expand reproductive freedom here and across the country.
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