A Michigan judge struck down the 1931 state law that banned abortion as the state supreme court sets to decide if a proposed amendment protecting the right to reproductive health care will be on the November ballot, NBC News reports.
Judge Elizabeth Gleicher of the Michigan Court of Claims ruled that the 1931 law, which essentially bans abortion under any circumstances, unless the life of the mother is in immediate danger, was unconstitutional under modern state law.
“A law denying safe, routine medical care not only denies women of their ability to control their bodies and their lives — it denies them of their dignity,” Gleicher wrote in her opinion. “Michigan’s Constitution forbids this violation of due process.”
The decision comes as pro-choice advocates have collected more than 700,000 signatures to get an amendment on the November general election ballot that would ensconce abortion rights int he state constitution. Despite the overwhelming support for the initiative, the Michigan Board of Canvassers, which is made of two Republicans and two Democrats, debated things like font and line spacing in the document. The board deadlocked on allowing the amendment onto the ballot, so the state supreme court will decide the issue.