DETROIT — A Michigan Court of Claims judge assigned a high-profile challenge of Michigan's 1931 abortion ban disclosed Thursday that she is an annual donor to Planned Parenthood of Michigan, the main plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Court of Claims Chief Judge Elizabeth Gleicher also represented Planned Parenthood in a key abortion rights case challenging the abortion ban in 1997, a court clerk disclosed in a letter to attorneys in the case. Almost a quarter-century ago, the state Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of Michigan's abortion ban, which has been largely inactive since the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade enshrined abortion rights in the U.S. Constitution.
"While Judge Gleicher does not believe this warrants her recusal, and is certain that she can sit on this case with requisite impartiality and objectivity, she believes that this letter of disclosure is appropriate," according to the Thursday letter.
