Judge overturns Michigan's 24-hour waiting period before an abortion

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DETROIT (AP) — A judge on Tuesday struck down Michigan's 24-hour waiting period before an abortion, saying it conflicts with a voter-approved amendment that locked abortion rights in the state constitution in 2022.

“Michiganders have the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the right to abortion care, and the state cannot deny, burden or infringe upon this freedom barring a compelling state interest to protect the health of the individual seeking care,” Judge Sima Patel said.

The waiting period had been in place for years, though Patel temporarily blocked it earlier in litigation in 2024.

The judge said a mandatory 24-hour delay “exacerbates the burdens that patients experience seeking abortion care."

Patel also overturned a regulation that required abortion providers to provide a fetal development chart and information about alternatives, declaring them “coercive and stigmatizing.” The judge stopped a requirement that only a physician, not other health professionals, can perform an abortion.

The lawsuit was filed by Northland Family Planning Centers and a group called Medical Students for Choice.

Michigan's attorney general and health director agreed that the challenged regulations were unconstitutional, though state attorneys were assigned to defend them in court.

Abortion rights were added to the state constitution by nearly 57% of voters in 2022, months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Patel's ruling “reaffirms that Michigan is a state where you can make your own decisions about your own body with a trusted health care provider, without political interference,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said.