A Michigan public prosecutor said he will enforce a state pro-life law that bans killing unborn babies in abortions even if others refuse.
In a statement Monday, Christopher Becker, a public prosecutor for Kent County, said state officials should not ignore laws that they don’t like – a comment aimed at Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. A pro-abortion Democrat, Nessel has said she will not enforce the pro-life law.
“I will abide by whatever laws are passed by the legislature or by voter initiative down the road. That is the proper role of a prosecutor,” Becker said. “At this time, however, there is a validly passed statute which has been upheld by the Court of Appeals in the past, and I will not turn a blind eye and ignore it. To do so, in my opinion, would be improper.”
Michigan has a 1931 abortion ban that should have gone back into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week. However, a state judge who donates to Planned Parenthood recently blocked enforcement of the law, saying it “likely violates the state constitution,” Townhall reports.
As a result, Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities still are aborting unborn babies in the state, according to Bridge Michigan.
However, some lawyers have raised questions about the extent of the judge’s order and whether county-level prosecutors still may enforce the pro-life law, according to Bridge Michigan.
Lawyer David Kallman, who represents Republican prosecutors in Kent and Jackson counties, thinks they can.
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“If there’s any prosecutor in this state right now today, and the police came to them with a investigation showing a doctor performed an abortion in violation of the statute, a prosecutor could prosecute right now — today — if they wanted to,” Kallman told Bridge Michigan.
Here’s more from the report:
Nessel’s office emailed county prosecutors a copy of that opinion indicating they do not have authority to enforce the 1931 ban while the injunction remains in place, according to court filings.
But asked Friday whether she is confident in that analysis, Nessel declined to take a legal position, saying it’s a debate that may end up playing out in courts.
Becker told the news outlet that he has not received any cases yet about alleged violations of the abortion law, but he will consider them on a case-by-case basis if he does.
“I’m not going to say yes (to prosecution) for sure, because every case is dependent on the facts that are brought in,” Becker said. “But I think the clearest thing I can say is, I’m not ignoring this law. It’s a validly passed statute. I’m not ignoring it, and we’ll go from there.”
He said the law allows for the prosecution of doctors who abort unborn babies, not mothers.
“To dispel any confusion about the law, [it] does not allow for charges to be filed against the woman seeking or getting an abortion,” Becker said.
If the law is enforced, it would save nearly 30,000 unborn babies from abortion every year.
However, both Planned Parenthood and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed separate lawsuits challenging the law earlier this year.
Michigan has a pro-life Republican legislature, but pro-abortion Democrats hold the offices of governor and attorney general.
In a historic ruling Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health and allowed states to protect unborn babies from abortion again.
“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority.
Since the ruling, 13 states have banned abortions and more are expected to do so in the weeks ahead.
For nearly 50 years, Roe forced states to legalize the killing of unborn babies for any reason up to viability and allowed states to legalize abortions without limits up to birth. The ruling made the United States one of only seven countries in the world that allows elective abortions after 20 weeks. As a result, more than 63 million unborn babies have been aborted.
Now, states are allowed to make their own laws regarding abortion again, and Guttmacher Institute researchers estimate as many as 26 will protect unborn babies by banning or strictly limiting abortions. These laws are expected to save hundreds of thousands of unborn babies from abortion every year.
