Our annual Legislative Day brought together 350 prolife leaders, volunteers, and legislators. With 14 prolife bills currently being worked on in Lansing, the day was full with detailed briefings and questions.
The keynote speaker was Dr. Donna Harrison, executive director of American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She addressed two of the key pieces of legislation, specifically discussing the medical procedure and science behind them.
Our Heartbeat/Miscarriage Awareness Act would require abortionists to confirm a viable pregnancy through a fetal heartbeat, offer the woman a chance to listen, and offer the women information about miscarriages if no heartbeat can be found. The bill is designed to address several issues, including sloppy medical practices, improving informed consent, and the fact that thousands of women in Michigan have abortions every year when their child has already died or is highly likely to miscarry in the next few days or weeks. Out of ignorance or greed, the abortion industry is giving many women a lifetime of potential physical or psychological risks for nothing.
Our informed consent legislation on abortion pill reversal would require abortionists to inform women that an RU-486 pill abortion can be reversed (if the woman has not taken the second of the two-pill regimen). Research and practice show that 50 to 70 percent of children can be saved by giving women who have taken the first pill treatment with natural progesterone. The treatment is generally safe and is a standard fertility treatment. Research shows the surviving children suffer no significant ill effects (a common pro-abortion talking point that assumes disabled individuals have less value as human beings). Many women instantly regret having an abortion after taking the abortion pill, but are unaware that their choice may not be final. Will an industry that proclaims the supreme value of choice object to women being informed of another choice?
While the Right to Life of Michigan legislative team was providing briefings on prolife bills, our Choose Life license plate bill was undergoing a committee hearing across the street in the Michigan House. Christen Pollo from Students for Life of Michigan filled-in to give the prolife testimony for the bill, speaking about her experiences with the importance of pregnancy help, especially with young people on campus.
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| Christen Pollo testifying for Choose Life plates |
Just as in the Michigan Senate testimony on this legislation a few weeks ago, the American Association of University Women (Michigan Chapter) repeated bizarre accusations about pregnancy help centers.
The AAUW representative repeated the claim that pregnancy centers are purposefully located near college campuses in White communities. She said that her primary concern is that the funding from the Choose Life plates would go to crisis pregnancy centers which are only interested in providing misinformation to women or encouraging White women to place their children for adoption into other white families.
That's crazy, for three reasons that even most abortion supporters would acknowledge as true.
1. Prolife pregnancy centers purposefully try to locate near abortion clinics. A map of Michigan pregnancy help agencies show they are located all over the state, with the highest concentrations and largest centers located in urban areas.
2. Black women have a majority of abortions in the state (which should be a stunning indictment of the abortion industry).
3. Usually prolife pregnancy centers are accused by the abortion industry of harassing or manipulating minority women, not white women.
According to abortion supporters these centers are simultaneously "baby-finding centers" looking to recruit white babies for racial eugenics and manipulating minority women into not having abortions by focusing on them heavily. OK.
Or—and we're just spitballing here—maybe they genuinely just want to save every unborn baby and do it by helping mom, regardless of her status. You never know with those pregnancy center folks, with their free formula, diapers, maternity and baby clothes, counseling, referrals, parenting classes, etc. Sinister stuff, indeed. Imagine the horror of them giving out more onesies to women of all races if they get a few additional donations from people who want Choose Life plates!
One can only imagine the media circus if our legislative team made a similarly bizarre comment in testimony before our legislature.