About 30 bills have been introduced in Michigan, which Republican sponsors say mirror public sentiment against abortion and concerns about upholding religious freedoms, according to the
Detroit News.
According to Planned Parenthood, GOP gains in the legislature mean that at least two-thirds of the state’s lawmakers are now solidly against abortion — and they seem ready to act.
“We do have a window of opportunity and we need to utilize it,” said state Republican Rep. Thomas Hooker, who is pushing legislation to defund Planned Parenthood.
Ed Rivet, legislative director of Right to Life of Michigan, agreed with Hooker. He told the News that now is “absolutely” the best political climate to push his group’s agenda.
A law banning late-term abortions was signed into law last year by GOP Gov. Rick Snyder. Now, some lawmakers are promoting legislation that would make it a crime to coerce a woman into having an abortion and to stop what they call “judge shopping,” aimed at bypassing parental consent laws.
Other measures, the News reported, “would ban abortion coverage for private insurers on healthcare exchanges, require ultrasounds before abortions, and allow employers to exclude insurance coverage for drugs and services they deem morally objectionable.”
The Democratic Women’s Caucus in the legislature is pushing back with a package of healthcare bills of its own, including measures to improve sex education in schools and access to contraception and annual pap smears exams.
“It used to be just about abortion and now the attacks are moving to preventive health care and basic birth control,” Sarah Scranton, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, told the News. “That's really shocking.”
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