FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 24, 2022
Contact: Ruby Schneider
[email protected], 734-585-6714
Washtenaw County Prosecutor Statement on Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade
Ann Arbor, MI – Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit issued the following statement today following the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs overruling Roe v. Wade:
“Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a woefully misguided decision that discarded decades of precedent, and eliminated a fundamental constitutional right that has been recognized for a half-century. The Supreme Court is the ultimate arbiter of the federal Constitution. But the Court cannot change the real-world fact that the right to decide whether, when, and under what circumstances to bear a child is, indeed, fundamental.
Our office has been fighting in court to secure recognition of the right to an abortion under the Michigan Constitution—which provides protections wholly independent of the federal Constitution. We will continue to vigorously advocate for that position in the weeks and months ahead.
In the interim, Michiganders should know this: As things stand, abortion remains legal and accessible in Michigan, thanks to a preliminary court injunction blocking enforcement of Michigan’s archaic 1931 law criminalizing abortion.
But no matter what happens with the 1931 law, let me be clear: We will never, ever use our office’s scarce resources to prosecute patients, providers, or doctors for exercising reproductive freedom. We will not be a party in furthering the criminalization of a right that has been recognized as fundamental for the past 50 years. And we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect the safety, health and welfare of the people in our community—which includes the right to safe, legal, and accessible abortion."
-Eli Savit, Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney