Michigan Legal System in Disarray After Roe v. Wade Decision

Judge Elizabeth Gleicher, a Democrat appointee and Planned Parenthood donor, is the presiding judge in a case brought by the non-profit organization and an abortion provider against the state of Michigan that could keep performing abortions legal.

The case before Gleicher seeks to establish that abortion is a right implied in the state constitution, and therefore a 1931 state law still on the books that made performing an abortion a felony (except to save the life of the mother) is unenforceable.

In 1996, Gleicher, as an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer argued unsuccessfully in a losing case before the Michigan Court of Appeals for abortion as a state constitutional right—the same point of law she is now being called upon to decide as a judge.

Attorney General Dana Nessel. (Office of the Attorney General of Michigan)

In its 1997 decision in Mahaffey v. Attorney General, the appeals court stated in part, “… we cannot conclude that the intent of the people that adopted the 1963 constitution was to establish a constitutional right to abortion.”

The appeals court noted abortion was a criminal offense at the time the Constitution was written and had been for 32 years.

The ruling said, “An examination of Michigan Supreme Court precedent also leads to the conclusion that there is no right to abortion under the Michigan Constitution.”

Until the appeals court ruling is overturned, it is the guiding principle for cases in all state jurisdictions.

Had Gleicher prevailed, the Mahaffey case would have effectively done away with Michigan’s Informed Consent Law, which requires ultrasound images to be shown to the mother of the child before an abortion procedure, and the legally mandated 24-hour waiting period.

Gleicher, who has been transparent about her donations to Planned Parenthood and her representing pro-abortion causes in the past, can