PLANNED PARENTHOOD

A man accused of intentionally starting a fire at Planned Parenthood in Kalamazoo was not granted bond in federal court. Related: Man used fire starter log in alleged arson at Planned Parenthood, court record saysBrereton is accused of starting fires in the property’s landscaping area and on the roof at 4:10 p.m. July 31, at Planned Parenthood, 4201 W. Michigan Ave., in Kalamazoo. Brereton allegedly used citronella tiki torch fuel and a fireplace starter log to start the fire, a criminal complaint said. If convicted of the arson charge, Brereton faces up to 20 years in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years. Kalamazoo Planned Parenthood was severely damaged in a fire of suspicious origin in 1986.

One of the laws slated to take effect allows potential relatives of an embryo or fetus to sue abortion providers for up to $20,000 within four years of an abortion.

After Wisconsin left an 1849 near-total abortion ban in place, some providers began commuting to Illinois to treat patients. These Planned Parenthood partnerships could be a model for the future.

Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. said it will reassess its presence in Indiana following legislation signed into law last week.

A Paw Paw, Michigan man has been charged with setting a Planned Parenthood in Kalamazoo on fire.

In a span of 3 days this week, court rulings seesawed between outlawing abortions and permitting them. A judge allowed them to continue Wednesday for at least 21 days.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A man was charged with arson after he allegedly set a fire at Planned Parenthood in Kalamazoo. Related: Planned Parenthood fire was arson, Kalamazoo Public Safety saysPlanned Parenthood is surrounded by a fence, which the man breached before starting the fire, a criminal compliant said. The Paw Paw man allegedly bought the tiki torch fuel, fireplace log and utility lighter in two separate transactions with cash at the Paw Paw Walmart shortly before the fire was started, the complaint said. An anonymous tip to Kalamazoo Silent Observer said the Paw Paw man started the fire, the complaint said. It doesn’t trickle down.”The Paw Paw man lived in a house with his wife and kids.

The governor pledged to “keep fighting like hell to protect Michigan women.”

The U.S. Supreme Court, in consideration of a Mississippi abortion restriction, removed on June 24 the constitutional right to abortion and left the issue for states to sort. In Whitmer’s lawsuit, the governor has asked the Michigan Supreme Court to address the issue. “This is another textbook example of why the Michigan Supreme Court must take up my lawsuit to constitutionally protect reproductive freedom as soon as possible. “I don’t see that happening.”Could any of these cases eventually make their way to the U.S. Supreme Court? The U.S. Supreme Court cannot address whether a state supreme court correctly interpreted its own constitution.

The Biden administration has considered using emergency public health powers to protect access to abortion pill, mifepristone.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, in conjunction with Kalamazoo Public Safety, says the reward is for the information leading to the arrest of the allege suspect responsible.

KALAMAZOO, MI – A reward of up to $5,000 is offered for information related to the arson fire at Planned Parenthood. An arson fire was started around 4:10 p.m., July 31, at Planned Parenthood, 4201 W. Michigan Ave., in Kalamazoo. Related: Planned Parenthood fire was arson, Kalamazoo Public Safety saysThe fire was started in a landscaping area outside the building, and caused damage to the roof of the Planned Parenthood building. No one was inside the building at the time of the fire, and the Planned Parenthood office was closed. Tips can be submitted anonymously, but people who want the reward need to include contact information.

Hundreds more out-of-state patients are having abortions at Planned Parenthood clinics in Illinois and wait times to schedule the procedure in the southern part of the state have spiked during the first month after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

A Planned Parenthood in west Michigan was caught on fire Sunday afternoon.

A judge blocked enforcement of a 1931 Michigan ban on abortion Monday, just hours after the state Court of Appeals said county prosecutors were not covered by a May order and could enforce the prohibition following the fall of Roe v. Wade.

An Oakland County judge blocked prosecutors from enforcing the state’s 1931 Abortion Ban. That ruling came just hours after a court of appeals ruled the ban could be enforced.

A judge in Oakland County has just granted a temporary restraining order in response to a ruling Monday morning that cleared the way for county prosecutors to enforce Michigan’s 1931 Abortion Ban.

KALAMAZOO, MI – A fire at Planned Parenthood in Kalamazoo Sunday was intentionally set. A fire started in a landscaping area of Planned Parenthood, 4201 W. Michigan Ave., around 4:10 p.m. Sunday, July 31, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said. Related: Kalamazoo Public Safety investigate fire at Planned Parenthood buildingEmergency responders were able to extinguish the blaze in under 10 minutes, police said. No one was inside the building at the time of the fire, and the Planned Parenthood office was closed. Related: Abortion ban injunction to stay but prosecutors can enforce, appeals court saysThe Kalamazoo Planned Parenthood was the severely damaged in a fire of suspicious origin in 1986.

Michigan’s Court of Appeals has declined a request by anti-abortion groups and a pair of county prosecutors to overturn the preliminary injunction on the state’s 1931 abortion ban. The order leaves Planned Parenthood of Michigan’s lawsuit against Michigan’s attorney general with Court of Claims Judge Elizabeth Gleicher, who issued the abortion ban injunction on May 17. However, the panel of judges did rule that county prosecutors do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims, and can enforce the state’s ban on abortions despite the stay. Although the attorney general can supervise, consult and advise county prosecutors, the law “does not give the attorney general the general authority to control the discretion afforded to county prosecutors in the exercise of their statutory duties,” the judges wrote. “As the court recognized and as I believed, the decision in that case applied only to state actors, it never applied to county prosecutors.

The Michigan Court of Appeals made a ruling that will allow the state’s 83 county prosecutors to begin enforcing the 1931 ban on abortions.

Planned Parenthood said it will continue to provide abortions

KALAMAZOO, MI - Kalamazoo Public Safety responded to a reported structure fire Sunday evening. At approximately, 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, July 31, KDPS responded to a fire near the Planned Parenthood building in the 4200 block of West Michigan Avenue. According to a news release, the fire was in the landscaping area before the building. Anyone with information on the incident should call KDPS at 269-337-8139 or anonymously via Silent Observer at 269-343-2100. More on MLive:Police share safety tips for upcoming Jackson County FairTwo dead, several injured after SUV crashes into Make-A-Wish bike tourBeagles removed from ‘prison-like conditions‘ at Virginia facility coming to Michigan

A Michigan Court of Claims judge has denied a motion filed by Republican lawmakers to disqualify her from ruling in a case that may ultimately determine the future of abortion regulation in the state.

The Michigan judge whose decision is keeping abortion legal in the state will continue to oversee a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood despite her contributions to the reproductive health organization. “I have never represented Planned Parenthood. In May, Gleicher granted an injunction requested by Planned Parenthood. Gleicher’s yearly contributions to Planned Parenthood suggest she is not impartial, the legislature argued. Even if she had represented Planned Parenthood, court rules provide for disqualification only if a judge represented a party within the preceding two years, she wrote.

A Michigan judge who suspended the state’s long-unenforced abortion ban in May denied a request Friday from state lawmakers seeking to disqualify her from presiding over the key abortion case.

North Dakota’s only abortion clinic is preparing for what could be its final day of performing procedures.

Florida is on track to surpass last year's total of out-of-state abortions.

A cascade of poor decisions exposes the Journal to ridicule.

Caitlin Bernard, an OB/GYN in Indianapolis, is also listed on an antiabortion website linked to Amy Coney Barrett before she was nominated to the Supreme Court and helped overturn Roe v. Wade.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin suspended abortion services after June 24, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed the right to terminate a pregnancy.

The implications of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade are reverberating nationwide as states reemerge as the new battlefields for abortion rights.

The Republican-lead Michigan legislature is asking the state Court of Appeals to review a Court of Claims decision keeping abortion legal in Michigan while a Planned Parenthood lawsuit is pending. “I will not prosecute women or their doctors for a personal medical decision,” she earlier said, prompting the state legislature to take action. By Michigan court rules, when an appeal is available, a complaint for superintending control must be dismissed. It asks the Michigan Supreme Court to recognize a right to abortion in the state constitution. Read more on MLive:Michigan educating public on differences between abortion pills, emergency contraceptionCould Michigan’s abortion ban affect miscarriage management, IVF and emergency contraception?

Montana is an island of legal abortion, but four of the state's five clinics now restrict abortion pills from people in states with trigger bans to shield themselves and patients from legal attacks.

Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban has not been enforced for almost five decades. The court could say, for example, the ban only applies to first-trimester abortions, said Maureen Carroll, professor at the University of Michigan Law School. In the case of an ectopic pregnancy, the woman’s life is certainly in danger, Trombley said. In surgery for a tubal ectopic pregnancy, the entire pregnancy is removed from a tube or the tube is removed with the pregnancy. Michigan’s 1931 abortion law does not expressly indicate it would be illegal for a physician to refer a patient out of state for an abortion.

Democrats and their aligned groups raised more than $80 million in the week after the Supreme Court stripped away a woman’s constitutional right to have an abortion.

After an unprecedented reversal of reproductive rights protections by the country's highest court, there is now some confusion about what that means for abortions

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said it will not take any action against health professionals for providing abortion services while the state’s 1931 abortion ban is blocked by a court injunction. This underscores the need for the state Supreme Court’s immediate intervention, the governor contends in the filing. RELATED: Beaumont-Spectrum Health reverses course on halting ‘medically necessary’ abortionsThe Michigan law criminalizes abortion providers and makes only one legal exception – to save lives of mothers. She noted there is fear and uncertainty, and she is concerned, in the wake of the Supreme Court decision, doctors and their teams will hesitate to act because they are worried about legal repercussions to themselves. “That’s what guides our conversations and our counseling and decision-making.”They talk about the risks and benefits to the patient.

Judges temporarily blocked abortion bans Monday in Louisiana and Utah, while abortion rights advocates challenged laws in Texas, Idaho, Kentucky and Mississippi.

Judges in Louisiana and Utah temporarily blocked enforcement of trigger-law bans on abortion following the Supreme Courts' overturning of Roe v. Wade.

The California Legislature passed a bill Thursday to shield abortion providers and volunteers in the state from civil judgment.

The state's largest health system sends mixed messages about abortion

The fall of Roe v. Wade shifted the battleground over abortion to courthouses around the country, as abortion foes looked to quickly enact statewide bans and the other side sought to buy more time.

Built in the 1950s to carry tourists on day trips from the German port of Hamburg, the cruise ship looked bound for the scrap heap, until Chris Willson found the Aurora for sale on Craigslist. Today, his 293-foot ship (which once played a Bond villain's yacht) is parked near Stockton, Calif., surrounded by blueberry fields, and is being carefully restored. Correspondent Luke Burbank reports.

"You cannot make abortion go away by criminalizing it. All you do is you make it unsafe," former president of Planned Parenthood Alexander Sanger said.

‘Banning abortion doesn’t prevent abortions, it prevents safe abortions,’ writes model

KALAMAZOO, MI -- When Katie Moran heard about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, Moran curled up in bed and cried. Moran was one of several people who shared stories and passionate protests Friday evening during the Kalamazoo Bans Off Our Bodies Rally rally at Bronson Park. Moran emphasized how the Supreme Court ruling affects all people, regardless of their gender identity. Randy Lubratich, a volunteer for Planned Parenthood, said she’s been working with Reproductive Freedom For All for several weeks to gather signatures. A lot of them turn to Planned Parenthood,” Lubratich said.

Washington state and Idaho are going head-to-head when it comes to views on abortion rights.

Hours after the Friday ruling, Planned Parenthood pulled together one of the state’s highest-profile protests. The health care and abortion rights organization had preplanned the event in anticipation of the end of the federal right to abortion. “We’re here today to fight back and protect abortion access here in Michigan,” said Ashlea Phenicie, communications director for Michigan Planned Parenthood Advocates. The group rescheduled an event at the Capitol planned for Monday. Their celebration was planned to be at the Capitol Friday, but the location change was announced minutes before the Planned Parenthood protest was set to begin.

ANN ARBOR, MI - The day Roe vs. Wade died in America, an orange line divided two groups of people on a hot summer afternoon in Ann Arbor. On one side stood a handful of people donning rainbow vests in front of Ann Arbor’s Planned Parenthood building, 3100 Professional Dr. A message was left with an Ann Arbor Planned Parenthood spokesperson. “A just and civilized people do not tolerate slavery or abortion,” said Sandie Weathers, campaign director of 40 Days for Life Ann Arbor. “Why don’t we take that money that we’re using to kill children and giving to Planned Parenthood and use it to help these children live,” he said.

“I’m going to use that same precedent to sue states ... bringing illegal guns in my state with reckless abandon and taking lives," she said.

That rally will happen at 5 p.m., per Planned Parenthood and the Capitol’s weekly event schedule. Anti-abortion group Protect Life Michigan, however, plans to hold a 6 p.m. rally at the Capitol, celebrating the high court’s decision. Planned Parenthood also plans 5 p.m. rallies at Palmer Park in Detroit and Bronson Park in Kalamazoo. Read more from MLive:In momentous decision, SCOTUS reverses ruling that made abortion access a rightAbortion is still legal in Michigan. Whitmer, AG Nessel condemn Roe decision, work to stop Michigan abortion banRepublican Legislature declares Roe ruling as win for federalism

In Michigan, the decision restores a 1931 abortion ban unenforced since 1973. Roe was not grounded in constitutional text, history or precedent and resembled work of a legislature, not a court, the majority found. Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion,” Alito wrote. It notes in Brown vs. Board of Education, the court repudiated the “separate but equal” doctrine that allowed racially segregated schools. Whitmer, AG Nessel condemn Roe decision, work to stop Michigan abortion ban

Nearly half the states are expected to outlaw or severely restrict abortion as a result of the Supreme Court's decision, CNBC reports.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is urging the Michigan Supreme Court to “immediately” decide whether the state constitution protects abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court struck...

That’s because a preliminary injunction is preventing a 1931 law banning abortions from taking effect, even after the Supreme Court struck down Roe V. Wade.

Doctors across Wisconsin said they would immediately stop providing abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling striking down its Roe v. Wade decision on Friday.

Illinois remains an oasis for those seeking the procedure, as abortion providers in many surrounding states prepare to shut down.

For now, abortion is still legal in Michigan, but that could change

Republican legislators in Wisconsin have quickly adjourned a special session that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called to repeal the state's dormant abortion ban without taking any action.

Abortion providers are bracing for the final days of the U.S. Supreme Court’s guarantee of a right to an abortion.

Idaho state politicians are likely to pass an abortion law if Roe is overturned, but both sides of the conversation are still pushing for their cause.

I think that they’re trying to take away the power over bodily autonomy,” Thornton Greear continued. Thornton Greear, 55, steps into the role at a pivotal and visible time for Planned Parenthood, which has 15 health centers across Michigan. She was the chief external affairs and reputation management officer and under her leadership, the Illinois affiliate expanded its patient base, Planned Parenthood said in a statement. In Michigan, Thornton Greear replaces Lori Carpentier, who announced in January 2021 she would leave after more than 35 years with Planned Parenthood. She said she came to Michigan because she is impressed by the battle Planned Parenthood is waging here.

New developments in the battle to block enforcement of Michigan’s 1931 abortion law as the Michigan Legislature plans to step in as the defendant and fight to keep that law in place if Roe v. Wade gets overturned.

Republicans want to make abortion illegal in the state if ‘Roe v. Wade’ is overturned

As new abortion restrictions are imposed in some parts of the U.S., states with more liberal leadership have been passing laws to let a wider range of medical providers to do the procedures.

About 400 workers at Planned Parenthood offices in five Midwestern states plan to unionize.

Planned Parenthood of Michigan is going to offer gender-affirming hormone therapy to transgender and nonbinary adults in Lansing and Marquette health centers. They plan to expand to the rest of the state by the end of 2022.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has opened the door to abortion opponents who are trying to overturn a recent decision that suspended the state’s long-dormant ban on the procedure.

The University of Michigan has created a task force of faculty and students to prepare for a potential abortion ban in the state should Roe v. Wade be overturned.

Watch Flashpoint every Sunday at 10 a.m. on Local 4 News.

Michigan’s 1931 law criminalizing abortion will not go into effect if the Supreme Court overturns Roe V. Wade.

Enforcement of Michigan’s nearly century-old law banning abortions has been blocked by the state’s Court of Claims Tuesday, siding with a lawsuit that claims the ban is “unconstitutional.”

A judge has suspended Michigan’s dormant ban on abortion, saying it likely violates the state constitution.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is making it quite clear she’s not giving up the fight for the right for abortion, even it means taking that battle to State Supreme Court.

Not everyone holds strong opinions on abortion, but for a great many people the court’s eventual decision will be cause for celebration or dismay.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a new Republican-backed law in Kentucky that led the state's two remaining abortion clinics to halt the procedure.

Two separate lawsuits were filed Thursday in an effort to secure abortion rights in the state of Michigan, should the federal Roe v. Wade ruling be revoked and leave abortion rules up to individual states.

Two separate lawsuits were filed Thursday in an effort to secure abortion rights in the state of Michigan, should the federal Roe v. Wade ruling be revoked and leave abortion rules up to individual states.

With the future of abortion rights uncertain amid an impending Supreme Court ruling, Planned Parenthood of Michigan and an abortion provider are filing a lawsuit in an effort to protect abortion access in the state.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has sued to protect abortion rights, asking a court to recognize a right to abortion under the state constitution.

The Oklahoma House has given final legislative approval to a bill that would make performing an abortion a felony.

A new report shows over half of U.S. abortions are now done with pills rather than surgery.

An appellate court has heard arguments in Planned Parenthood’s challenge to South Carolina’s new abortion law, with attorneys for the state arguing the nonprofit doesn’t have legal standing to bring the case.

A new government report suggests U.S. abortions may be inching up after a long decline.

COVID-19 and state abortion restrictions like a near-ban that took effect in Texas in September have people with unwanted pregnancies increasingly considering getting abortion pills by mail.

A conservative Christian university in Alabama has withdrawn an invitation for Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham to speak during inaugural activities for its new president.

The Biden administration is reversing a ban on abortion referrals by federally funded family planning clinics.

Abortion providers in Texas say they have seen a sharp drop in patients in the two weeks since the nation’s strictest abortion law took effect.

A federal judge has blocked a new Indiana law that would require doctors to tell women undergoing drug-induced abortions about a disputed treatment for potentially stopping the abortion process.

A federal appeals court panel has blocked Missouri from enforcing a sweeping state abortion law that bans the procedures at or after eight weeks of pregnancy.

Planned Parenthood of Michigan issued a statement in response to the Supreme Court of the United States taking up a major abortion rights challenge.

The Biden administration is beginning to undo a Trump-era ban on clinics referring women for abortions.

About 40% of all abortions in the U.S. are now done through medication — rather than surgery — and that option has become all the more pivotal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students march at the 38th annual Take Back the Night Ann Arbor on April 6, 2016 (Photo: Ruby Wallah)ANN ARBOR – The 43rd annual Take Back the Night Ann Arbor rally and march will take place this year on April 1 on the Diag at the University of Michigan. The annual event is focused on raising awareness of sexual violence and supporting survivors. TBTN Ann Arbor masks will be available at no cost. TBTN Ann Arbor T-shirts can be purchased ahead of time at http://tbtnannarbor.org/store. Following the rally, organizers will lead attendees on a march through the streets of Ann Arbor.

South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, S.C. – A new South Carolina law banning abortions will stay on hold following a judge's order on Friday to extend a temporary restraining order. Lewis initially suspended the “ South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act ” on its second day in effect, following a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood. Federal law supersedes state law. Planned Parenthood has indicated they plan to oppose McMaster's request to take part in the case, according to the governor's attorneys.

FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2020 file photo, the Supreme Court is seen in Washington. The Supreme Court will take up challenges to controversial Trump administration policies affecting family-planning clinics and immigrants, even though the Biden administration has announced it is reviewing them. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court said Monday it will take up challenges to controversial Trump administration policies affecting family-planning clinics and immigrants, even though the Biden administration has announced it is reviewing them. Last month, Biden also ordered a review of Trump's restrictions on family-planning clinics that caused Planned Parenthood to withdraw from the funding program, rather than stop abortion referrals. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the rule, in a lawsuit filed by the city of Baltimore.

South Carolina Gov. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina’s new law banning most abortions was suspended by a federal judge Friday on its second day in effect. AdThe “ South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act " is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. Federal law, which takes precedence over state law, currently allows abortion. AdPlanned Parenthood lawyers noted that South Carolina legislators this year did not change part of state law that said fetuses are considered viable in the 24th week of pregnancy.

South Carolina Rep. David Hiott, R-Pickens, says a prayer as the House votes on a bill that would ban most abortions in the state on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 in Columbia, S.C. The “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act,” like other similar laws currently being challenged, is “blatantly unconstitutional,” said Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that abortion is legal until a fetus is viable outside the womb — months after a heartbeat can be detected, Black noted. State bills to restrict or ban abortion “are plainly absurd,” Black said. The abortion ban would fall hardest on low-income women, who wouldn't be able to travel to a nearby state where abortion is still permitted, the suit says.

South Carolina Gov. Planned Parenthood immediately sued, effectively preventing the new law from taking effect. The “South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, is similar to abortion restriction laws that a dozen states have previously passed. Moments after the Thursday vote, Planned Parenthood announced that it was filing a lawsuit. The South Carolina law, like those of other states that are currently being challenged, is “blatantly unconstitutional,” said Jenny Black, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.

DENVER – Federal prosecutors said Wednesday they will not seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing three people and injuring nine others at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado in 2015. The move comes about a year after Dear was charged in federal court after his prosecution in state court stalled. The decision not to seek the death penalty follows the resumption of federal executions under the Trump administration and as the Justice Department continues to seek the death penalty in other cases in the administration's waning days. The death penalty has usually been taken off the table in cases in which mental illness is a factor, such as in the Unabomber case, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Prosecutors who are not seeking to pursue the death penalty for political reasons need to consider whether they are likely to succeed in convincing a jury to impose the death penalty in expensive and complicated death penalty cases prone to appeals, he said.