- Leaked Supreme Court documents show the court may be ready to overturn federal protection against abortion.
- As anti-abortion laws are passed across the country, state prosecutors have vowed not to prosecute abortion-related crimes.
- The Michigan Attorney General and the Louisiana and North Carolina County Attorneys have spoken out against the law.
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As the Supreme Court is likely ready to overturn federal abortion protection and nationwide abortion legislation, law enforcement problems are emerging as prosecutors promise not to prosecute abortion-related crimes.
“As chief prosecutor, I have jurisdiction across the country. “I was based on the understanding that Rowe v. Wade would probably be overturned during my term,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told Meet the Press on Sunday.
A 1931 law would make abortion in Michigan a crime if Rowe was repealed. The law is one of 13 “triggers” banning abortion that will become applicable if the federal protections established by Roe v. Wade are repealed.
“And this incredibly draconian and strict law of 1931 will criminalize abortion in this state with virtually no exceptions – no exception for rape, incest, no exception for medical emergencies,” Nessel said.
“And realizing that the lives of our 2.2 million women of childbearing age are in this state, their lives will be put at risk,” Nessel added. “I refuse to impose this draconian law that will endanger their lives and endanger the health, safety and well-being of every woman in Michigan.”
The office of Attorney General Nessel did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
Michigan’s attorney general is not the only one refusing to enforce anti-abortion laws. District attorneys in Louisiana and North Carolina, which have jurisdiction over smaller regions, share similar sentiments after news of an expired draft opinion from Supreme Court Justice Alito emerged, suggesting the court may be ready to overturn Rowe v. Wade. .
“I cannot and will not shift the priority from tackling shootings, rapes and car thefts to investigating women’s choices about their own bodies,” Orleans County Attorney Jason Williams said in a statement on Friday. that his service “will not pursue pregnancy.”
District Attorney Williams’ office did not respond immediately to Insider’s request for comment.
This week, Louisiana presented a proposal that would classify abortion as murder and allow prosecutors to file criminal charges against women who pursue abortion, The New York Times reported.
North Carolina has no law in force, but Durham County Attorney Satan Debury has similarly vowed not to prosecute abortion crimes if new legislation is passed that criminalizes patients or providers.
“As a district attorney, I am committed to the security and well-being of everyone in our community,” Debury said in a statement posted on Twitter. “That is why I joined nearly 100 criminal justice leaders in a friend’s briefing, calling on the Court to uphold the Dobbs Women’s Health Organization precedent against Jackson and vowing not to prosecute women who have abortions or health professionals who help them.
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