News & Commentary

State Departments Prepare to Extend Benefits to 323 Gay Couples Married in Michigan (Mlive) Jay Kaplan, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan who worked on the marriage recognition case, said it is "hard to enumerate" all of the state benefits that those couples - whose marriages were already recognized by the federal government -- will now be entitled to. A lot of the new benefits are "practical things," said Kaplan, such as the ability to easily change a last name on a driver's license or qualify as a beneficiary on a spouse's state pension. (ALSO: Detroit Free Press, Detroit News)

As the year comes to a close, the Michigan Legislature seems to have dutifully set itself to the task of passing as many harmful bills as possible.

Regardless of whether you have been pregnant or not, chances are you can recite the long list of things to avoid in pregnancy: alcohol, caffeine, cigarettes, deli meats, unpasteurized cheese, and the list go on.

Yesterday, the full House voted along party lines to pass the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, only hours after it was reported from committee.

Freedom of religion is one of our fundamental rights as Americans. That’s why it’s protected in the state and federal constitutions.

Today, we joined with a coalition of labor unions to ask a court to rule that state officials blatantly violated the Open Meetings Act when they locked the public out of the Capitol in 2012 as lawmakers deliberated over the controversial right-to-work law. The case, filed on behalf of a journalist, citizens, legislators, and unions, charges that government officials, in an unprecedented assault on democracy, deprived the public of their right to participate in the legislative process.  Let's take a look at a 2012 open letter to the Governor from our Executive Director Kary Moss, written right after the Capitol Lockout.

Today in “Companies Are Just Like Us” news, the Supreme Court has decided that Hobby Lobby, a for-profit chain of crafts stores that wants to discriminate on the basis of religion and not provide female employees access to contraceptives, is indeed exempt from following federal law!

Yesterday, the Michigan Legislature voted and passed an initiative that effectively bans any health care policy issued in Michigan from providing abortion coverage, making comprehensive health care near impossible to obtain for a woman in our state. The initiative, approved 62-47 by the House and 27-11 in the Senate will become law in March without the signature of Gov. Rick Snyder, who vetoed similar legislation a year ago. Did your representative represent you? Check our list of legislators that voted to take health coverage away from women across our state. This dangerous policy takes insurance coverage away from victims of rape and incest and puts the lives of women facing unexpected pregnancy complications at risk. It is beyond us how anyone could support this initiative after the personal stories that were told in Lansing. Brave female legislators shared highly personal and painful stories in a plea to their colleagues to reject the initiative and allow voters across the state to decide to issue. Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, in an emotional speech, disclosed that she was raped 20 years ago: “If this were law then and I had become pregnant, I would not be able to have coverage because of this. How extreme does this measure need to be? I’m not the only woman in our state that has faced that horrible circumstance…. I think you need to see the face of the women you are impacting by this vote today.”

Today, the Michigan Legislature could vote on a proposal that would ban any health care policy issued in Michigan from providing abortion coverage, making comprehensive health care near impossible to obtain for a woman in our state. We need every voice to call your legislator and urge them to do the right thing and let this proposal go to the ballot in 2014.  Find your legislators' phone numbers: House of Representatives | Senate Tell your legislator that this dangerous policy would take insurance coverage away from victims of rape and incest as well as put the lives of women facing unexpected pregnancy complications at risk.  Not only does this proposal endanger women's lives, but voters overwhelmingly oppose it. Polls suggest that opposition is over 60% in both strong Republican and Democratic districts. Your voice truly matters in this fight. Voters deserve to make choices about our healthcare, not special interests.