Sec. 2971. (1) A person shall not bring a civil action on a wrongful birth claim that, but for an act or omission of the defendant, a child or children would not or should not have been born. (2) A person shall not bring a civil action for damages on a wrongful life claim that, but for the negligent act or omission of the defendant, the person bringing the action would not or should not have been born. (3) A person shall not bring a civil action for damages for daily living, medical, educational, or other expenses necessary to raise a child to the age of majority, on a wrongful pregnancy or wrongful conception claim that, but for an act or omission of the defendant, the child would not or should not have been conceived. (4) The prohibition stated in subsection (1), (2), or (3) applies regardless of whether the child is born healthy or with a birth defect or other adverse medical condition. The prohibition stated in subsection (1), (2), or (3) does not apply to a civil action for damages for an intentional or grossly negligent act or omission, including, but not limited to, an act or omission that violates the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.1 to 750.568.
Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2971
Wrongful birth or wrongful life claims; prohibitions; exceptions
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case Willis Ex Rel. Willis v. Wu (2004)
Most recently applied in Pamela Plowman and Jeremy Plowman v. Fort Madison Community Hospital, Pil Kang, John Paiva, Davis Radiology, P.C., Leah Steffensmeier, the Women's Center, and Fort Madison Physicians and Surgeons (June 2017)
Add. 2000, Act 423, Eff
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Michigan Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Michigan statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.