Michigan voters in 2022 approved a sweeping constitutional amendment ensuring a right to abortion. But a ban on most taxpayer-funded abortions has been in place for decades, no matter which political party has controlled the Legislature or the governor’s office.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of YWCA Kalamazoo, which pays for abortions sought by women in southwestern Michigan. The group says more than 75% have incomes that would qualify them for state support if Medicaid-funded abortions were allowed.
Judge Brock Swartzle of the Michigan Court of Claims dismissed the lawsuit on July 3, saying YWCA Kalamazoo was the wrong party to bring a challenge.
“The YWCA is not an individual and it, as a nonprofit organization, does not have reproductive freedom,” the judge said in an 18-page opinion. “Further, the YWCA does not provide abortion care and is not directly affected by a law that denies funding for abortions.”
Michigan’s Medicaid program only pays for abortions to save a woman’s life or to end pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
Right to Life of Michigan, which regularly urges lawmakers to maintain the Medicaid prohibition, praised the court decision.
“Proposal 3 guarantees access to abortion, not carte blanche funding of elective abortions at the expense of every Michigan taxpayer," President Amber Roseboom said, referring to the abortion rights amendment approved by voters.
