Speaker Bolger Blocks Coercive Abortion Bill, Bill Dies During All Night Session

For reasons never directly explained to RLM, House Speaker Jase Bolger refused to take a vote on S.B. 1156 & 1157 over the final days of the legislative session. While more than 100 bills were addressed during a marathon 20-hour session spanning all day Thursday and until nearly sunrise today, the two coercive abortion protection bills were left to die and will have to be reintroduced in the new session starting in January. Bolger is term-limited and will not be returning to the legislature in 2015.

Kudos to Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville and lead bill sponsor, Senator Judy Emmons, who went the extra mile trying to get this legislation through in the waning days of this session. They demonstrated true commitment and leadership to the prolife cause.

It is a disappointing finish to an otherwise historic 4-year legacy of passing prolife legislation under the current House and Senate leadership. Under Speaker Bolger and Majority Leader Randy Richardville, RLM was able to promote more significant prolife legislation than at any other time in our history. Both Bolger and Richardville are term-limited and will not return to the legislature in 2015. Right to Life of Michigan will be working with new leadership.

In 2011, after 15 years of effort, a ban on partial birth abortion was finally secured in Michigan law. In 2012, we passed the unprecedented Prolife Omnibus bill, putting four separate bills together into one. In 2013, the House and Senate approved our citizen petition legislation to remove abortion coverage from Obamacare plans and all health insurance in Michigan. Passage of the Coercive Abortion Protection Act would have been a crowning piece to this remarkable run of prolife legislation.

Some adversity only serves to strengthen resolve. Right to Life of Michigan will be back in 2015 to complete the mission of protecting women and girls from coerced abortions.

With appreciation for all the incredible prolife work you do, may you be blessed this Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of a baby. Isn't that what we are about? Knowing there is hope and joy with the coming of each and every baby!

Great fetal surgery story

The Daily Signal has a video on Elijah Leffingwell and his surgery while he was still in the womb.

Death is not a treatment for disease

In the Lansing State Journal, Right to Life of Michigan’s Legislative Director Ed Rivet has a piece reflecting on Brittany Maynard’s death and on Michigan’s decision to choose true compassion over assisted suicide.

The conversation about her very public campaign promoting physician-assisted suicide should cause Michiganders to recall the debate we had in the 1990s as a result of Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s lethal activities. At that time, Michigan was the epicenter of the assisted-suicide debate and as a state we gave it a very thorough examination. Let us reflect on what we learned.

We chose not to legalize assisted suicide via a 1998 statewide ballot question, rejecting Proposal B by a 71 percent to 29 percent margin. We recognized that we failed if our solution to suffering was to kill those who suffer. Better alternatives were available. We approved new laws and administrative rules to increase access to hospice care, gave doctors more discretion to aggressively use pain medications, and improved training for palliative care and pain management in the health professions.

FULL STORY

Michigan House takes up bill to protect religious liberty

With barely two weeks remaining in the current legislative session and a raft of issues on the docket, Michigan House leaders have moved the protection of religious liberties to center stage. House Speaker Jase Bolger introduced House Bill 5958 - the Michigan Religious Freedom Restoration Act (MRFRA) - immediately after the November election. Typically, the Speaker does not introduce bills as leader of the chamber. HB 5958 is the only bill Speaker Bolger has personally sponsored in this two-year session. Today the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the bill and reported it to the House floor by a vote of 7-4.

This proposed state law directly parallels the federal RFRA which was at the center of the Hobby Lobby religious liberty case against the HHS Mandate under the federal health care law. The federal RFRA was enacted in 1993, signed by President Bill Clinton, to mitigate a U.S. Supreme Court ruling which lowered the protection of religious beliefs from government actions. Though Congress attempted to apply RFRA to the states, the Supreme Court later ruled states must pass their own RFRA to maintain the highest level of legal protection at the state and local levels.

Right to Life of Michigan offered its support to HB 5958 today as we are currently engaged in our own lawsuit against the HHS Mandate. Recent government actions at both the federal and local levels have demonstrated fundamental religious liberties are vulnerable. While things are always very unpredictable in a "lame duck" session, including what response the Michigan Senate will have to HB 5958, a matter of this importance will keep everyone's attention in Lansing.

RLM will be closely monitoring developments on this legislation and will be advocating for its passage.

Comedian Steven Crowder discusses the value of every human life

In a new video, comedian Steven Crowder shares his experience volunteering with his wife at a ministry for individuals with special needs.  He discusses how every life has value.

Short prolife film MITOSIS on YouTube

Check out the wonderful, short 14-minute prolife film MITOSIS below. When we take the life of an unborn child, we also kill their future dreams, creativity and knowledge.

Double your gift by donating online

This month, Right to Life of Michigan supporters have the opportunity to double their donations to the Right to Life of Michigan Educational Fund. Generous donors are doubling the donations of individuals up to $50,000 for donations given online. Our goal is to raise 50,000 in online donations by December 31.       

Double your donation by donating online to Right to Life of Michigan Educational Fund.