Partial Birth Abortion Ban Leads Agenda
Right to Life of Michigan applauded the strong commitment to advancing prolife legislation being demonstrated at the State Capitol in Lansing. Numerous prolife bills and initiatives have been introduced or acted upon this year with more yet to come.
Senate and House committees have moved identical versions of a bill to ban the heinous practice of partial birth abortion. Senator Rick Jones' S.B. 52 was reported from the Senate Judiciary Committee in March, while the House Families, Children & Seniors Committee reported Rep. Kevin Daley's H.B. 4109 this week. Repeated efforts to ban partial birth abortion have been ongoing in Michigan for 15 years.
Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, "Partial birth abortion is an unconscionable, indefensible means of killing a child who is more born than unborn. After several laws being enacted and court rulings that blocked them, two vetoes by the previous governor and a citizen petition drive, we are grateful for the persistence of the current legislature to put this ban on the books once and for all."
Legislators have also introduced bills to address two key areas of concern: bills to opt Michigan out of abortion coverage in the federally-required health insurance exchanges (H.B. 4143, Rep. Gilbert); and bills to create a specific crime for coercing a woman to have an abortion (H.B. 4799, Rep. Opsommer).
RLM Legislative Director Ed Rivet praised the anti-coercion measure. "More than half of all women having an abortion claim they were pressured in some way. It is a fact that pregnant women are at greater risk of domestic violence than non-pregnant women. Coercion to abort is a huge problem that must be addressed."
