In Right to Life of Michigan v. Whitmer, (6th Cir., May 26, 2026), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Michigan district court's conclusion that plaintiffs in the case lack standing in their suit challenging a Michigan state constitutional provision that guarantees a fundamental right to reproductive freedom. In the case, 16 plaintiffs sued Michigan's governor, attorney general and secretary of state seeking to enjoin enforcement of the provision that was adopted by Michigan voters in 2022, alleging that it violates their federally protected parental rights. The court said in part:
Plaintiffs’ alleged injuries must be traceable to the actions of the Defendants....
The primary allegation against the Governor and the Attorney General is that each is generally responsible for executing Michigan’s laws. This type of general allegation cannot support Plaintiffs’ standing because a state official’s general authority to enforce state law cannot satisfy traceability in the absence of “allegations about what the [official] has done, is doing, or might do to injure plaintiffs.”...
For the Governor and Attorney General, this leaves only the allegations claiming they have enforcement responsibilities relating to the [Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act] and [Michigan Consumer Protection Act]. But these allegations do not bear on Plaintiffs’ parental rights theory because they allege only that the ELCRA and MCPA bear on enforcement as to medical professionals, rather than in a manner that would cause harm to parental rights....
Notably, the medical professional plaintiffs chose not to appeal. ...
Plaintiffs argue that because § 28 has led to several abortion restrictions being held unlawful, their harms directly flow from the constitutional amendment. But this does not mean the harms flow from Defendants....
The Michigan Attorney General's office issued a press release announcing the decision.
