Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy was one of the first noting that she will not prosecute any abortion cases in the event that Roe v. Wade is overturned, including against those who seek abortions and those who provide them.
Co-founder of Sister District, Gaby Goldstein, joins The Downballot to discuss what Democrats in the states are doing to protect abortion rights
“I feel like I am living in The Twilight Zone,” Worthy said, reports the Metro Times. “I have three daughters. Now more than ever I must stand to protect them and their reproductive rights. This is not just for my daughters, but for every single person in America so that they can decide what to do with their bodies.”
She added that getting an abortion is a personal, not a government decision.
“Only those who are invited into their decision-making process should have any say,” Worthy added. “And beyond that, as someone who has looked into the eyes of hundreds of sexual assault and incest victims, how dare anyone enter into their trauma dictating what they should do with their bodies.”
Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit also tweeted that he would not go after a doctor or patient this week.
“I will never, ever prosecute any provider or patient for abortion in Washtenaw County,” Savit said.
This is not the first time Michigan prosecutors have shared their commitment to abortion access. According to The Detroit News, prosecutors in at least three counties issued a joint statement emphasizing their commitment to abortion access in April, days before the SCOTUS opinion was leaked.
When the state's anti-abortion laws were passed, "there were no women serving in the Michigan legislature," the prosecutors wrote. "Those archaic statutes are unconstitutionally and dangerously vague, leaving open the potential for criminalizing doctors, nurses, anesthetists, health care providers, office receptionists—virtually anyone who either performs or assists in performing these medical procedures. Even the patient herself could face criminal liability under these statutes.”
They added: ”We cannot and will not support criminalizing reproductive freedom or creating unsafe, untenable situations for health care providers and those who seek abortions in our communities. Instead, we will continue to dedicate our limited resources towards the prosecution of serious crimes and the pursuit of justice for all."
The statement was signed by Worthy, Savit, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeffrey Getting, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton, Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon, and Marquette County Prosecutor Matthew Wiese.
Of course, some prosecutors said they would enforce the ban, including Republican Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer also weighed in on the leaked opinion noting the impact overturning Roe v. Wade would have on her state. According to ABC News affiliate WXYZ, Whitmer filed a lawsuit last month to overturn Michigan’s 1931 law that makes abortion illegal. Should Roe v. Wade be overturned, the law would go back into effect because it was never repealed.
Whitmer’s lawsuit demands the Michigan Supreme Court deem the old law unconstitutional.
"We surveyed the tools I have as governor and filed this lawsuit over a month ago because we saw the direction that it looked like that the United States Supreme Court was taking and we thought it was important to take this case straight to our state supreme court and ask them to rule that the Michigan Constitution confers a women's right to abortions and right to make her own health care decisions," Whitmer told CNN Tuesday.
Whitmer also supported the prosecutors in their views that individuals should decide whether or not to have abortions, not the government.
"You don't start by taking agency away from making their own health care decisions. This is something that shouldn't be up to politicians, it shouldn't be up to judges, frankly. It should be squarely a women's determination with some advice from a trusted health care professional and that's precisely what we are fighting for," she said.
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