
1992
On March 5, SB 141 (H-4) is approved by the House. The major difference between the House and Senate version is the elimination of photographs and the use of a brochure on abortion developed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
A House and Senate conference committee is appointed on March 12 to recommend a compromise between the two versions. However, the conference committee never reaches an agreement and the bill dies at the end of the 1992 legislative session.
On June 9, the Michigan Supreme Court in Doe v. Babcock upholds the law to ban Medicaid-funded abortion.
On June 29, the U. S. Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote upholds most of the "Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act." The Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v Casey decision requires:
- information on fetal development and alternatives to abortion;
- physicians to keep detailed records for public disclosure;
- parents to provide permission for minors to have an abortion, including going with the minor to receive information;
- (this was the only issue not upheld by the Court) that a woman's husband must be notified before she has an abortion.
On August 5, Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Judge Philip Schaefer finds the forced parental consent law unconstitutional based on the emergency provision. The court enjoins the law.
The Title X Gag Rule, prohibiting federally funded family planning clinics from mentioning abortion even in pregnancy options counseling, is slated for implementation October 1, 1992. On November 3, the U.S. Court of Appeals bars enforcement of the Gag Rule.
On November 18, PA 244 of 1992 passes and amends the forced parental consent law of 1990. The changes include defining medical emergency as “that condition which, on the basis of a physician's good faith clinical judgment so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate an immediate abortion of that woman's pregnancy to avert her death, or for which a delay in performing an abortion will create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.” This language allows doctors more flexibility in determining when a medical emergency exists for a minor and conforms to language upheld by the U. S. Supreme Court.
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
* Italics indicate federal actions which affect Michigan law
NOTE: Green text indicate the effective date of Michigan Public Acts
Return To Facts
Return To Chronology of Michigan’s Major Reproductive Health Actions