Michigan Court Delays Abortion Funds Cutoff

LANSING, Mich. —  Pro-choice advocates scored a major victory today when the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled 2 to 1 that a law cutting off state funding for Medicaid abortions does not take effect until next April .

Right to Life of Michigan, which collected 400,000 petition signatures to force the Legislature’s June vote to end funding for the poor, maintained the cutoff was immediate. But abortion rights advocates, who have launched a counter-petition drive, said the ban would not become effective until next April, three months after the Legislature adjourns--unless a second, separate vote was taken by lawmakers.