GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A federal court has temporarily blocked Michigan from enforcing part of the state’s civil rights law against two pro-life organizations, allowing them to continue recruiting and hiring employees who support their life-affirming mission while the legal battle continues. The ruling also temporarily blocks the state from requiring the groups to provide insurance coverage for elective abortions.
The case challenges an amendment to Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) that expanded the definition of sex discrimination to include abortion-related decisions. Pro-life organizations argue the change could force them to hire employees who oppose their core beliefs.
Judge says law likely violates first amendment rights.
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U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker wrote, “ELCRA likely threatens and impairs plaintiffs’ First Amendment expressive association freedoms, and plaintiffs’ speech is currently chilled. Defendants have not adequately rebutted that presumption.”
“The court’s decision is a welcome reprieve and reaffirms our fundamental right to hire employees who agree with our life-affirming mission,” said Right to Life of Michigan President Amber Roseboom in a statement about the decision.
Roseboom called any attempt to force the organization to employ people who reject its mission “a wild misuse of power and defies common sense.”
What comes next.
In issuing the injunction, the federal court said the two pro-life organizations, Right to Life of Michigan and the Pregnancy Resource Center Grand Rapids, are likely to succeed in their legal challenge. However, the court has asked the Michigan Supreme Court to determine how the state law applies to the groups. Once the state Supreme Court answers that question, the case will return to federal court.
Democratic AG Dana Nessel’s office said after the ruling, “We have significant concerns with Friday’s opinion and will present those concerns in future proceedings.”
