Once again, Right to Life has launched a false campaign designed to erect more hurdles for women attempting to exercise their constitutionally protected right to decide whether to bear children. New bills in the Michigan Legislature, called the Coercive Abortion Prevention Act, are the first in the country to attempt this particular strategy.
The bills would amend the public health code to require medical practitioners to perform what they call a "coercion and intimidation screening" on patients before they can obtain an abortion. Under this misuse of the informed consent law, doctors must assure that a patient understands that it is illegal to be coerced into having an abortion and determine if the patient indicates that she is a victim of coercion. If so, the bills would require a pregnant woman to delay her abortion for at least another 24 hours.
Supporters of this legislation laud this effort as a step to protect women who are victims of domestic violence. In reality, this bill is part of a larger agenda to deny women access to the full range of reproductive health services that they really need.
Let's be clear: No one should be coerced into having an abortion or having a baby. However, if the Legislature really cared about protecting pregnant women, lawmakers would put more effort and money into ensuring that women have the resources they need to avoid unintended pregnancies and that those who are victims of abuse can get meaningful help.
But Michigan does not fare well in either respect. The Alan Guttmacher Institute -- one of the most respected nonprofit research organizations focused on sexual and reproductive health research, policy analysis and public education -- identifies three ways states can help women avoid pregnancy: meet the needs for subsidized contraceptive services and supplies, have policies and laws in place that facilitate access to contraceptive services, and financially support the delivery of those services.
An estimated half million Michigan women need these services. Yet Guttmacher ranks Michigan 48th in the nation in its efforts to help women avoid unintended pregnancies and worst in terms of the quality of its sex education policies.
If the Legislature wants to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in Michigan, it should work to ensure access to birth control and medically accurate sex education.
And if the Legislature wants to help women who are victims of violence and intimidation, it should put more funding into domestic violence shelters. Instead, the amount of public funds supporting domestic violence shelters has not increased in more than 15 years.
The bottom line is that the Legislature should stay out of private health care decisions. These bills do nothing to protect pregnant women. Let's keep our eyes on the prize: Every child should be a wanted child, and every woman should be able to decide for herself whether she can and should have children.
By Kary L. Moss, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan
