Abortion rights groups file suit to overturn ban on taxpayer-funded abortions

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The ACLU Michigan announced Thursday it had filed a suit challenging Michigan’s ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion and related care, arguing the ban violates the state’s newly enacted constitutional protections for reproductive freedom.

The suit, filed alongside the law firm Goodwin Procter on behalf of YWCA Kalamazoo, which offers financial assistance to help people pay for abortion care and related costs. According to a statement from ACLU Michigan, 77% of those who YWCA Kalamazoo provides with this assistance have incomes that qualify them for Medicaid.

The suit argues the ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion violates the right to reproductive freedom enshrined in the state Constitution, after voters approved an amendment in 2022 . It also argues the ban also discriminates between childbirth and abortion and discriminates on the basis of sex.

“The coverage ban can delay vital health care, which in turn can increase health risks although abortion is very safe and much safer than childbirth. The coverage ban also increases costs to Medicaid-eligible people. The ban results in financial hardship for those with limited income, as well as infringes on their family-planning decisions, coercing some people into carrying pregnancies to term against their will,” ACLU Michigan said in a statement.

Additionally, ACLU Michigan argues the ban creates a two-tiered system in which individuals with low income must pay out of pocket for abortion care, while individuals with higher incomes have private insurance carriers which may cover abortion care. The ban falls most heavily on those who face systemic barriers accessing healthcare and statistically have the worst health outcomes, particularly Black women and other people of color, ACLU Michigan said.

Right to Life of Michigan President Amber Roseboom opposed the suit in a statement .

“Today, abortion-obsessed activists are again appealing to the courts to achieve what they failed to garner support for in the legislative process, now hoping to force Michigan taxpayers, already facing the financial burdens of high inflation, to pay for other people’s abortions through Medicaid dollars,” Roseboom said.

“The irony of adding this burden to the Michigan taxpayer with inflation so high and economic pressures taking their toll on voters will not be lost on Michiganders. It is time for change in Michigan from the top down. This year, Michigan voters must start by taking back the State House of Representatives,” Roseboom said.

Democrats hold a slim 56-54 majority in the Michigan House of Representatives, and have advanced policies protecting reproductive health care . However, they were unable win enough Democratic votes to advance efforts repealing the ban on Medicaid funding for abortion and eliminating the state’s 24-hour waiting period for an abortion.

All 110 State House seats will be on the ballot for the November election.

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