State Rep. Jennifer Wortz, R-Quincy, on Wednesday issued the following statement after Michigan Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel struck down laws ensuring a 24-hour waiting period and informed consent for abortions:

“This baseless ruling leaves Michigan women vulnerable to exploitation and coercion, and it will lead to the preventable loss of countless babies’ lives. Our 24-hour waiting period and consent requirements gave pregnant moms information and time before making the irreversible decision to get an abortion. They protected against rapists, traffickers, and abusive partners pressuring women to abort a baby.

“The people of our state support these commonsense protections for women, and the people’s representatives agreed. A bipartisan majority in the Legislature stopped efforts to repeal the waiting period and informed consent protections. But now, one rogue judge is ignoring the will of the people and doing the bidding of a few out-of-touch activists. Women will suffer for it.

“I’m especially disturbed to see Gov. Whitmer celebrate this ruling, but I’m not surprised. She has consistently pushed for more abortion — without even the most basic safeguards.

“This latest court opinion is a horrifying setback, but I’ll never give up on protecting the women and babies of Michigan.”

A 2023 poll by Marketing Resource Group found that 63% of Michigan voters support Michigan’s 24-hour waiting period law, including 65% of voters who supported Proposal 3 of 2022 — the ballot initiative that created a right to abortion in the Michigan Constitution. The organizers of the proposal repeatedly insisted that the amendment would merely restore Roe v. Wade at the state level, yet Patel’s decision Tuesday said laws that were allowed under Roe violate Proposal 3.