Tell state lawmakers to remove abortion funding from health plans in state exchange

One provision of the ACA (aka Obamacare) allows the states to determine whether abortion will be a built-in benefit in health plans offered on the state "exchanges." Bills pending in Michigan Senate would exclude abortion coverage.

Please contact your state senator and tell him or her to "vote YES on SB 612-614. Stop taxpayer funding of abortion insurance plans."

LEARN MORE ABOUT SB 612-614

FIND YOUR LEGISLATOR

Supreme Court lets national health care law stand

In response to the United States Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said:

It is important to remember that what is ruled constitutional by our judicial system does not create a moral right. The Affordable Care Act concerns me because of the anti-life provisions and mandates. Support for abortion has contaminated the Affordable Care Act. The national health care plan allows federal tax dollars to be used for abortion and for insurance plans which cover abortion. This is unacceptable. With the law remaining intact, the Michigan legislature must act immediately to exclude health plans from covering abortions on state exchanges.

Right to Life of Michigan Legislative Director Ed Rivet said, "S.B. 612-614 are pending on the Michigan Senate floor and should be voted on at the soonest possible opportunity. The federal health care reform legislation enacted in March 2010 requires that all 50 states operate insurance 'exchanges' to provide more access to health plans and information about plans for both individuals and employers. The Affordable Care Act contains a provision allowing the states to exclude abortion as a covered benefit in the health insurance plans operating under the exchange. This provision is known as 'the abortion opt-out.'"

Right to Life of Michigan will continue to be a strong voice for the defenseless and for those who object to their tax dollars being used for abortion. Right to Life of Michigan opposed the enactment of the Affordable Care Act because of its abortion and rationing components.

This court decision unquestionably reminds each and every voter that the general election in November is of utmost importance.

Listing said, "All voters who care about the value and dignity of human life must do everything they can to elect Mitt Romney and a Congress who are committed to repeal the Affordable Care Act."

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Life After 40: Week 11

During the eleventh week of pregnancy the baby is two inches long. She has reached the end of the embryonic stage and is now known as a “fetus,” Latin for “young one.” Her kidneys are developing and produce urine for the first time.

LEARN MORE AT LIFE AFTER 40

Register online for Right to Life of Michigan's Annual Conference and save with early bird discount

Registration for our Annual Conference on September 29 is now open on our website, and a special early bird discount is open through July 12. We have energizing speakers and interesting workshops, come and find out how you can make a difference!

LEARN MORE

Prolife victory in Oakland County, Planned Parenthood abandons abortion clinic plan for building

For more than a year, prolifers in Oakland County have been battling to prevent Planned Parenthood from opening an abortion clinic in Auburn Hills. It was announced today that Planned Parenthood has abandoned its plans to turn a building it purchased in 2010 into an abortion clinic and have put up a "for lease" sign. Prolife blogger Jill Stanek has the details.

Planned Parenthood of Mid and South Michigan has given up on its underhanded attempt to open a 17,050 square foot mega-abortion clinic in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a huge pro-life victory.

Moreover, Planned Parenthood is now out at least $1 million and stuck with a boondoggle.

FULL STORY

Right to Life of Michigan PAC's prolife endorsements online

Right to Life of Michigan PAC's endorsements for the August 7, 2012 primary election have been posted online. You can also use the ballot generator to create a personalized prolife ballot.

LISTING OF ENDORSEMENTS

BALLOT GENERATOR

Life After 40: Week 10

In the tenth week of pregnancy, the baby’s eyelids close to protect the wonderfully complex eyes while they form. Each minute the baby’s brain develops 250,000 new neurons and she can now move her muscles.

LEARN MORE AT LIFE AFTER 40

State House moves historic prolife bill

History was made in the Michigan Capitol on June 13, 2012. By a vote of 70-39, the Michigan House of Representatives approved House Bill 5711, advancing the most comprehensive prolife bill ever addressed in the state legislature. HB 5711 is a combination of 5 previously introduced bills rolled into a single, omnibus bill. The bill has become known as the “Prolife Bus.”

The Prolife Bus amends the Michigan Public Health Code to bring about long overdue reforms to the state’s abortion industry. In brief, HB 5711 will: 1) require all surgical abortion clinics to be licensed and inspected by the state. 2) require abortion clinics to screen women for coercion to abort. 3) prohibit prescribing and dispensing RU-486 abortion bills via Internet webcam connections. 4) require the humane disposition of aborted baby bodies. 5) require abortionists with bad medical records to carry a minimum amount of malpractice insurance.

Prolife citizens have long known about the horrific practices that are common in abortion clinics. In Michigan, only 4 of 30 surgical abortion clinics are licensed by the state as outpatient surgical facilities. A 52-page report issued by RLM in March 2012 documented decades of abuses of health and safety laws, and more importantly, abuses of women’s health and dignity. Over the years numerous cases have been reported of aborted babies being thrown into trash dumpsters. HB 5711 will require that these children’s bodies be treated the same as other human remains, by burial or cremation.

Recently a pregnant woman in Detroit was bound and gagged, set on fire and shot – all because the father of her unborn child did not want the child to be born. Miraculously, she and the baby boy survived. This is the kind of danger women face when they stand up to coercion to have an abortion. Tragically, many more women surrender to the pressure and abort against their will. The legislation passed by the House will make coercion to abort a crime.

This Prolife Bus has moved to the Senate, where action on it will be delayed over the annual summer legislative recess. However, action is expected as soon as full legislative sessions resume after Labor Day. RLM expresses its gratitude to the many prolife legislators who have courageously stood against pro-abortion rhetoric and a media-fabricated “war on women” to advance this bill.

To learn more about prolife legislation, visit Right to Life of Michigan at www.rtl.org.

Two more Planned Parenthoods caught willing to aid in sex-selection abortions

The prolife group Live Action recently released a fourth video showing the willingness of abortion clinics to provide sex-selection abortions. This time at two different Planned Parenthood clinics in Hawaii. View the video below.

Life After 40: Week 9

During the ninth week of pregnancy, the baby has grown a quarter of an inch in just a week and her teeny tiny toes are now visible.

LEARN MORE AT LIFE AFTER 40

State House moves historic prolife bill

History was made in the Michigan Capitol on June 13, 2012. By a vote of 70-39, the Michigan House of Representatives approved House Bill 5711, advancing the most comprehensive prolife bill ever addressed in the state legislature. HB 5711 is a combination of 5 previously introduced bills rolled into a single, omnibus bill. The bill has become known as the "Prolife Bus."

LEARN MORE

Prolife teleseminar at 1 p.m. today

Join us at 1 pm today for a teleseminar. Today we'll be hearing about Wexford/Missaukee Right to Life's grand plans for their July 4th parade, an update from Legislative Director Ed Rivet on the big news in Lansing and announcing details of our annual Conference in September and a special registration discount. Click the link below to listen in:

LISTEN IN

'Prolife Bus' rolls out of committee

House of Representatives could vote June 12-14

On June 7, the Michigan House Health Policy Committee voted 13-5 to pass the Prolife Bus bill. The Prolife Bus bill represents the largest collection of prolife legislation ever addressed at one time in the Michigan legislature. House Bill 5711 is an omnibus bill combining several currently introduced prolife bills into one large new bill.

Right to Life of Michigan Legislative Director Ed Rivet said, "The resolve of the prolife majority on the House Health Policy Committee was unwavering. The best interests of women, their unborn children and the state of Michigan were well-served by the committee members who voted to pass the Prolife Bus bill."

The unofficial plan is for the bills to be taken up by the full Michigan House June 12-14.

ACTION NEEDED NOW: All prolife supporters should immediately contact their state representative in Lansing and encourage his or her support for the Prolife Bus bill. The message is very simple:

Vote YES on H.B. 5711-5713. Reforming Michigan's abortion industry is long overdue! (Or for short, "Vote Yes on the Prolife Bus!")

Contact Information for Michigan State Representatives

Spread the message so others can join in our grassroots lobbying.

Visit the Right to Life of Michigan Prolife Action Center for key points to the Prolife Bus bill.

Life After 40: Week 8

During the eighth week of pregnancy the baby is ½ of an inch long. Only six weeks after coming into existence fingers, ears and eyes can be seen. Taste buds are forming on her tongue and tooth buds are taking shape.

LEARN MORE AT LIFE AFTER 40

Prolife Omnibus Bill Passes House Committee

This morning, a state House committee voted 13-5 and 13-4 to pass a group of prolife bills which provide new regulations on abortion providers.

House Bills 5711, 5712 and 5713 require abortion clinics to be licensed surgical centers, outline new requirements for disposing of the remains of aborted fetuses and make it crime to coerce a woman into having an abortion.

Rep. Bruce Rendon, R-Lake City, said abortion clinics should be held to the same cleanliness standards as free-standing surgical facilities.

The bills also would prohibit doctors from administering a drug-induced early abortion by speaking with a patient via an Internet camera — a practice abortion opponents claim has popped up in other states.

"This disturbing practice should end," said Rendon, who sponsored House Bill 5711, the main abortion regulation legislation.

FULL STORY

MORE INFORMATION ON THE PROLIFE OMNIBUS BILL

Another video exposes the abortion industry's willingness to perform sex-selection abortions

Live Action released their third video on sex-selection abortions in America. This video exposes two abortion clinic workers in Arizona willfully ignoring a state law which bans sex-selective abortion and advising the undercover actor to lie when signing the informed consent form.

House committee to take up prolife omnibus bill on June 7

On Thursday, May 31, a package of three bills was introduced in the Michigan House that represents the largest collection of prolife legislation ever addressed at one time in the legislature. House Bill 5711 is an omnibus bill combining several currently introduced prolife bills into one large new omnibus bill. Here is a brief description of the bills included in the “Prolife Bus" (along with their former bill numbers).

• Coercive Abortion Prevention Act – Screens women seeking abortions for possible coercion to abort, and requires abortion clinics to post an anti-coercion sign (HB 5134 & 5182). Two additional new bills attached to the Bus, HB 5712-13, complete the package by defining coercion to abort as a crime and providing penalties (HB 4798-99).

• Humane disposition of aborted babies – Requires bodies of aborted children to be buried or cremated (SB 25 & 54 or HB 4119-4120).

• Prohibit “webcam” abortions – Prohibits prescribing the abortion pill by remote consulting over the Internet (HB 4688/SB 420).

• Abortion clinic licensing – Requires any abortion clinic or private physician office advertising outpatient abortion services to be licensed as a Freestanding Outpatient Surgical Facility (HB 5522).

• Abortionist malpractice insurance – Requires abortionists to carry $1 million in malpractice insurance or an equivalent bonded surety (SB 876).

Seven separate bills are being combined in the Bus, with two bills from the Coercive Abortion Prevention Act package as “trailer” bills to the Bus. The overall message theme to this package is: “Reforming Abortion Practices in Michigan – Long Overdue!” If reforming and reinventing Michigan government is a current priority in Lansing, the pattern of turning a blind eye to abortion clinic practices for 39 years must come to an end.

ACTION NEEDED: Please immediately contact your state representative and encourage their support for the Prolife Bus bills, HB 5711, 5712 and 5713. Spread the message so others can join in our grassroots lobbying!

KEY POINTS:

• A persistent pattern of neglect in regulating abortion clinic practices in Michigan has led to a long overdue need for governmental reforms. Women's safety is being compromised and taxpayers are not receiving value for the dollars being spent in our regulatory system.

• While nearly every abortion is performed in an outpatient facility (99.8%), only 4 of 32 surgical abortion clinics are licensed in the same way other outpatient surgical centers are, such as laser eye or podiatric surgical facilities.

• It is disturbing to know that some abortion facilities have operated in our state for decades and have never once been inspected. When regulators have responded to complaints lodged against some of these unlicensed clinics, totally unacceptable, unsanitary conditions have been found.

• Some of Michigan's laws need to be updated to insure these clinics are licensed and inspected.

• There is a lack of compliance with a variety of state laws regarding abortion, from insuring women receive adequate information prior to an abortion, to basic public health reporting of complications from abortion. Some women who have died from abortions were not even given the dignity of being a statistic in official state reports. Their deaths didn't seem to matter.

• Women who become pregnant unexpectedly are commonly victims of pressure, coercion and violence to have an unwanted abortion. Homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women. Abortion providers should be a line of defense against such behavior, not a facilitator of abusing women.

• Abortion advocates claim abortion is a decision “between a woman and her doctor.” Yet some abortions using the RU-486 abortion pill are being facilitated by Webcam-Skype communications where the woman never meets or is physically examined by the doctor. This violates the most basic of medical protocols and must not be allowed to happen in Michigan.

• Due to a technicality in Michigan's public health laws, the bodies of aborted babies can be legally thrown into a common trash bin, headed for an ordinary landfill, so long as the bodies are chemically treated. Human remains should not be treated in such an undignified manner, nor should the environment or public health be so compromised.

Real Prolife Story: Being prolife in two places at once

Check out our most recent Real Life Story, about the family of prolife pastor and radio host Christopher Brooks. We were counting on him to help with our Black History Month remote radio broadcast in February, but he had a pretty good excuse to miss it.

If you turn your radio dial to WLQV-AM in metro Detroit, you are likely to hear Pastor Christopher Brooks hosting his shows Equipped for Life or Christ and the City. If you stay tuned for a while, you’ll hear him talk about prolife issues like abortion or adoption.

Throughout Black History Month in February, Right to Life of Michigan hosted a Life Speaker’s Series. The committee organizing the event was counting on strong prolife voices from WLQV-AM like Pastor Chris to kick it off with a live radio broadcast at the Right to Life of Michigan Wayne County Educational Resource Center.

When it came time on February 1 to host his show, however, Pastor Chris had somewhere better to be. A week before the broadcast he discovered he would have to miss it to finalize the adoption of his son Cameron in court.

FULL STORY