Right to Life Michigan files federal court appeal against proposal it says suppresses parental rights

Right to Life of Michigan and several parents asked a federal appeals court Oct. 28 to reinstate their lawsuit challenging Michigan’s Proposal 3 abortion amendment, arguing that the measure threatens parents’ constitutional rights to guide their children’s medical decisions. 

The appeal, filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, contests a September ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney, who dismissed the group’s case for lack of standing without addressing its claims, according to an Oct. 28 Right to Life of Michigan statement. 

The pro-life group’s 2023 lawsuit named Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other state officials as defendants and claimed that Proposal 3 added sweeping abortion access protections to Michigan’s constitution that undermine the state’s 1993 parental consent law. WKAR Public Media, an NPR affiliate, reported that Proposal 3 was approved by voters in 2022 and enshrines abortion access in the state’s constitution. 

“Today’s appeal seeks to protect parental rights, which are now at unprecedented risk due to Proposal 3’s broad language,” Right to Life of Michigan President Amber Roseboom said in a statement. “It shocks the conscience to see the rampant disregard for the role of parents in helping guide their children through decisions that will impact their mental and physical wellbeing, which is undeniably the case with abortion.”

Roseboom accused abortion activists of trying to drive “a wedge between parents and their children when it comes to abortion, gender identity, and sex education.” 

She warned that the amendment threatens Michigan’s 1993 parental consent law that requires parental consent before a minor can obtain an abortion. 

The appeal comes as state education officials advance new “health education” standards that would require teaching about “reproductive health” and how to seek related medical care without parental approval, according to the group. Right to Life of Michigan, which helped enact the 1993 consent law, said both efforts reflect a coordinated campaign to erode parental authority in the name of “reproductive freedom.”