6 Michigan GOP lawmakers sign brief to overturn Roe v. Wade

Six Michigan Republican members of Congress signed on to an amicus brief Thursday seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade.

In May, the Supreme Court, which is considered to have the most right-wing tilt in decades, agreed to hear arguments on a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. 

U.S. Reps. Peter Meijer (R-Grand Rapids), Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland), Jack Bergman (R-Watersmeet), John Moolenaar (R-Midland), Tim Walberg (R-Tipton) and Lisa McClain (R-Bruce Twp.) joined 222 other members of Congress in signing the amicus brief, representing 40 states in total. The only Michigan GOP representative who did not sign on is Fred Upton of St. Joseph.

“Mississippi’s case provides the Court a chance to release its vise grip on abortion politics,” the legislators wrote. “As Congress and the States have shown that they are ready and able to address the issue in ways that reflect Americans’ varying viewpoints and are grounded in the science of fetal development and maternal health.”

None of the Michigan lawmakers who signed on to the amicus brief responded to a request for comment. 

Twelve Republican governors also submitted and signed an amicus brief to overturn Roe, including governors from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

The Supreme Court will likely hear oral arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case in the fall.

“If it wasn’t already clear, these Republican governors and members of Congress have laid it out for us: They want to ban abortion outright. This is deeply out of the step with the American public — 80% of whom support access to safe, legal abortion,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “And at a time when COVID-19 cases are back on the rise across the country, it’s immoral and irresponsible that these elected officials continue to prioritize blocking access to essential health care over the safety of their citizens.”

Right to Life of Michigan also filed an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade Thursday. 

“The radical view that an unborn child has zero human worth shouldn’t prevail over the U.S. Constitution, laws, a large majority of voters, and democracy itself. It’s time for Roe to go,” said Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing in a press release.

if Roe were to be overturned, the power would likely return to the states to set their own laws regarding abortion restrictions or protections. 

In Michigan, the latest law in the books set in 1931 would potentially felonize people who get abortions and abortion would be “deemed manslaughter.” As the Advance has reported, it’s likely that there would be litigation over that law.

States have been rolling out a number of abortion restrictions over the last few years. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice think tank, more abortion restrictions have been enacted nationwide in the first six months of 2021 than in any year since Roe v. Wade, totaling 90 restrictions across the country.