Michigan's governor, attorney general, and two US senators are pro-choice Democrats. The governor's mansion is held by a woman. The state went blue in three of the four last presidential elections.
But if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade this summer, abortion could become illegal within the state's borders, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Michigan's Democratic leaders are frantically trying to head off a 1931 abortion ban that was never repealed, even after the US Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade negated it. If the protections of Roe disappear this year, Michigan's ban could come roaring back to life.
Michigan's quandary exemplifies how Democrats' hands are tied should the US Supreme Court vote to throw out nearly 50 years of precedent, and return to individual states the power to ban or allow abortions. A leaked draft of an opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization indicated the court's conservative majority was ready to do so. The court could also issue a ruling that does not entirely do away with Roe v. Wade, but diminishes its scope and allows more restrictive state bans to move forward.
Repealing the law through the Michigan state legislature is an unlikely option, as Republicans control both chambers. So Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit in April, arguing that the ban violates Michigan's state constitution, which guarantees a woman a right to an abortion. She has used her powers as governor to request the Michigan Supreme Court consider the suit immediately.
Planned Parenthood of Michigan also filed a lawsuit to have the ban thrown out.
The 1931 law "would make our state home to one of the most extreme anti-choice policies in the country once this decision from the court is officially released," Whitmer wrote in a New York Times op-ed on Monday.
"I hope that my novel lawsuit can offer a course of action for others to follow," Whitmer wrote. "I encourage my fellow pro-choice governors, state legislators, private sector leaders and citizens to use every available tool to protect access to safe, legal abortions."
The state's Democratic attorney general, Dana Nessel, has said she won't enforce the law if it goes into effect. But, she cautioned, local prosecutors would still have the power to prosecute people who seek out or help facilitate abortions.
"I don't think that I have the authority to tell the duly elected county prosecutors what they can and what they cannot charge," Nessel told reporters on May 3.
In Wisconsin, which also has an unenforced abortion ban on the books, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul said he too would not enforce the ban if Roe v. Wade is struck down.