(Ann Arbor, Michigan) – On April 10, 2024, the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC), along with co-counsel Great Lakes Justice Center, filed a full-throated response to a motion to dismiss their federal lawsuit challenging Proposal 3, which resulted in the creation of Article I, § 28 of the Michigan Constitution.
The lawsuit, which challenges § 28 on federal constitutional grounds, was filed on behalf of sixteen pro-life plaintiffs, including, among others, Right to Life Michigan, the American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, two Michigan Representatives, a Michigan Senator, Christian Medical and Dental Associations, Crossroads Care Center, a physician, two moms, and parents with children in public schools.
The defendants in the case are Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
As set forth in the pro-lifers’ response, § 28 creates a super-right to “reproductive freedom” that is exceedingly harmful to women and children. In fact, this constitutional provision is a Trojan Horse for the left-wing’s radical pro-abortion and “gender-reassignment” agenda . . . and worse.
The proponents of Proposal 3 falsely claimed that it would simply “restore Roe.” It does not such thing. The pro-lifers’ response lays bare the pernicious effects of this state constitutional amendment.
As set forth in the response, Article I, § 28 runs afoul of the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Guarantee Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
More specifically, the pro-lifers’ response forcefully demonstrates that § 28 violates the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment by depriving women and children of the equal protection of the law, it eviscerates parental rights protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, it deprives pro-life medical professionals of their rights to the free exercise of religion and freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment, it deprives unborn life of equal protection and due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, and it deprives Michigan residents of their right to a republican form of government protected by the Guarantee Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit seeks a declaration that § 28 violates the U.S. Constitution and an injunction enjoining its enforcement.