20 | MAY 19 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

A conversation with constitutional law professor Robert Sedler.

What Would Overruling 
Roe v Wade 
Mean for Michigan?

DAVID SACHS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
R

obert Sedler, 86, a retired constitu-
tional law professor at Wayne State 
University, is no stranger to the bat-
tle for reproductive rights. While teaching 
law at the University of Kentucky prior to 
the 1973 Roe v Wade decision, Sedler filed 
suit along with the ACLU to overturn the 
Kentucky abortion ban. Their efforts were 
unsuccessful, but the U.S. Supreme Court’s 
decision in Roe immediately threw out 
every state’s abortion ban.
Now, a leaked draft opinion 
written by Supreme Court 
Justice Samuel Alito indicates 
the high court will overrule 
Roe and throw the question of 
the legality of abortion back to 
the individual states.
Professor Sedler was inter-
viewed last week by the JN on 
how he foresees the current 
controversy playing out.

PROFESSOR, WHAT WOULD BE 
THE IMPACT IN MICHIGAN IF ROE V 
WADE WERE OVERRULED?
In Michigan, the ACLU and other groups 
are collecting signatures for a ballot pro-
posal that would amend the Michigan 
Constitution to essentially incorporate Roe 
v Wade. I’ve worked on that ballot proposal. 
Also, Gov. Whitmer has filed a suit in the 
Michigan Supreme Court, and the ACLU 
and other groups have filed suits in lower 
courts. 
So, I think there’s a good likelihood that, 
one way or another, this will not affect 
Michigan. I think that the seven-member 
Michigan Supreme Court, which has four 

Democrats and one reasonable Republican, 
Elizabeth Clement, would uphold abortion 
rights.

PRIOR TO 1973, ABORTIONS WERE 
ALLOWED IN MICHIGAN ONLY TO 
PROTECT THE HEALTH OF THE 
MOTHER. IF ROE WERE OVERRULED, 
DOES THE 1931 LAW AGAIN TAKE 
EFFECT?
If the U.S. Supreme Court overrules Roe v 
Wade, at that point in time, abor-
tion would be illegal in Michigan. 
Now, this is why you have the bal-
lot proposal, and this is why you 
have the suits under the Michigan 
Constitution — and it’s entirely a 
matter of Michigan law. 
But let me make another point. 
Let’s suppose that abortion is 
illegal in Michigan and a woman 
finds herself pregnant. What can 
she do? 
Well, if she lives in the eastern part of 
the state like Detroit, she can go across the 
river to Windsor because abortion is legal 
in Canada. If she lives in the western part of 
the state, she can go to Chicago.
So, as a practical matter, this is not going 
to prevent women in Michigan from get-
ting abortions. 
Now, you’re going to hear the pro-choice 
people say this will affect poor woman, 
which it will. But right now, poor women 
don’t have abortion covered by Medicaid 
in Michigan. And in any event, you can be 
assured that the wealthy liberals will raise 
money to enable women to go to other 
states and get abortions. 

COULD SOME STATES TRY TO 
BLOCK WOMEN FROM SEEKING 
ABORTIONS IN OTHER STATES?
There is a constitutional right to travel. The 
red states are digging in. There are maybe 
27-28 states that are very confident that 
their voters are opposed to abortion, or at 
least won’t stop the legislature. And some of 
the states were going to make it a crime to 
assist anybody going to another state.
Now, that would seem to violate the 
constitutional right to travel. People have 
a right to travel interstate the length and 
breadth of the land.

IF ROE IS OVERRULED, ON DAY 1 DO 
ABORTION PROVIDERS IN MICHIGAN 
HAVE TO STOP UNDER THE 1931 
LAW? 
I suspect that by that time the Michigan 
Supreme Court or some courts will resolve 
the issue. Also, state Attorney General Dana 
Nessel has said she will not enforce it. And 
you can be assured that county prosecutors 
Karen McDonald in Oakland and Kym 
Worthy in Wayne are not going to prose-
cute anybody.
However, there’s another dimension to 
that. If a doctor performs an illegal abor-
tion, the doctor runs the risk of losing his 
or her license — and the medical board 
could go after the doctor. So, you see, there 
are many sides to this issue. 

WHAT ABOUT ABORTIONS SOLEY 
BY USE OF MEDICATION, WITHOUT 
THE ASSISTANCE OF A SURGEON?
There’s a whole slew of medications that 
can provide abortions up to about 10 

Professor 
Robert Sedler