Denver Newsroom, Apr 8, 2022 / 17:00 pm
After the Michigan governor sued Thursday asking a court to find that the state constitution includes the right to abortion, the state’s Catholic conference urged that the state’s laws, and judicial precedence, be respected.
“It is unfortunate that the judicial branch is being used to try to invalidate a longstanding policy approved by elected representatives and left untouched by the Legislature for nearly a century since,” Rebecca Mastee, a policy advocate at the Michigan Catholic Conference, said April 7.
“Let us also recall that the people of the state in 1972 voted at the statewide ballot to oppose abortion and, perhaps most relevant to today’s legal action, the state Supreme Court has precedent here as the law in question was upheld in 1973 in People vs Bricker. Our hope is that a greater respect for the distinct and separate branches of state government returns to the political sphere, and we pray for a deeper appreciation for the life and protection of unborn children in the hearts and minds of the citizens and elected officials of the state.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, asked the Michigan Supreme Court to resolve whether a right to abortion is protected by the state’s constitution.