On Monday, a federal appeals court ruled that Michigan's "partial-birth abortion" ban is unconstitutional. The court stated that Michigan's 2004 "Legal Birth Definition Act" places an "undue burden" on a woman's right to have an abortion. It also stated that Michigan's law "opted to use statutory language that pushed almost every boundary that the Supreme Court has imposed for these types of laws" rather than using language that had been previously upheld by the court. Instead, the legislature passed language that was overbroad and potentially banned pre-viable abortions.
Two previous bans passed by the Michigan legislature were struck down in 1997 and 2001 by federal courts.
