News & Commentary

This week, the Michigan Legislature will have the opportunity to vote on a proposal that will endanger women’s access to comprehensive healthcare throughout the state. As physicians and members of the Michigan Section of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), we know how essential having access to safe, comprehensive healthcare is to the lives of Michigan women and their families. We strongly oppose any proposal that would prevent insurance companies from covering medically-necessary abortion services that save women’s lives. This is not merely a political issue: pregnancy-related complications are within the top ten causes of death for women under 35. It is extremely disturbing that excluding coverage for one of the leading causes of death in the country is even being considered in our state. That’s why the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists published a committee opinion supporting the availability of comprehensive reproductive health services for all women, including:

When you show up at a hospital in need of medical aid, you expect that the doctors and nurses will figure out what's wrong, explain to you the options for treating it, and give you the best medical care possible. That's what Tamesha Means thought, until she showed up at Mercy Health hospital. Tamesha was only 18 weeks pregnant when her water broke prematurely. She rushed to Mercy Health—the only hospital within half an hour of where she lived. The hospital did not tell her then that she had little chance of a successful pregnancy, that she was at risk if she tried to continue the pregnancy, and that the safest course of care in her case was to end it. They didn't tell her these things: the hospital simply sent her home. She came back the next day, bleeding and in pain, and again was turned away. Again, she was not told of the risks of trying to continue the pregnancy, or what her treatment options were. Tamesha returned yet a third time—by now suffering a significant infection. The hospital was prepared to send her away once more, when she started to deliver. Tamesha's baby died within hours of being born—at 18 weeks, it never had a chance. How could something like this happen? Because Mercy Health is Catholic-sponsored, it is required to adhere to the "Ethical and Religious Directives," a set of rules created by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to govern the provision of medical care at Catholic-run hospitals. At hospitals like Mercy Health, these religious directives are put above medical standards of care.

As early as next week, the Michigan Legislature could vote on a proposal that would ban Michigan health care policies from covering abortion care, making comprehensive health care near impossible to obtain for a woman in our state. Unlike past attacks on reproductive rights, this one isn’t even pretending to care about “protecting women’s health.” Instead, this proposal blatantly singles out women and denies them coverage for life-saving healthcare services, with no exception for rape, incest or the life and health of a mother. Defend Women's Health Care in Michigan  These provisions are an unwarranted government intrusion into a private marketplace and would force women to do the impossible — predict an unplanned pregnancy, rape or a future medical crisis in order to purchase expensive additional insurance in advance. Michigan doesn’t want this legislation. For years, interest groups that are out of touch with the majority of Michiganders have been fighting to push this policy through our democratic system. Former Governor Engler rejected similar legislation as being wrong for Michigan, and Governor Snyder vetoed almost identical bills just last year. Since they have failed to convince voters, our legislature, and our governor, this small group of activists is now circumventing the traditional legislative process in order to push their agenda through with approval from only three percent of Michigan voters. There is still hope: Our legislators have the option to do the right thing by not taking a vote and letting this proposal go to the ballot in 2014 to let voters decide what is best for our state. Stand up for what's right: ask the Legislature to sit this one out and let Michigan voters decide.

Texas: the state where everything is bigger, including anti-woman legislation. It seems as though there is a competition between states of who can legislate the most extreme violations on women’s health. After a slow start, Texas jumped to the top of that disturbing list this week, as legislators called a special session just to push bills restricting women's rights into law. People in the Lone Star State aren't taking this quietly. Hundreds of women and men have gathered at the Capitol to protest a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks, could lead to the closure of nearly all abortion clinics in Texas, and puts up numerous other barriers preventing women from getting the health care they need. Inside the Texas Legislature, courageous Senator Wendy Davis is standing for women's rights, launching a 13 straight hour filibuster, through midnight tonight. 

It looks like the summer of 2013 is shaping up to be just like that of 2012 – all about vagina. Tomorrow morning, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers is holding a hearing that could be the first step towards ignoring the will of the people and forcing policy that would endanger women’s health through the legislature. If the Board approves petition language for this extreme ballot proposal, it would mean that opponents of reproductive rights would have a shot at enacting a law that cannot be vetoed by the Governor or challenged in the courts. Join us tomorrow at the State Capitol to make it known that we are not going down without a fight.

We love protecting freedom of religion and expression here at the ACLU. It's sort of our thing, which made it hurt this morning when a Michigan Senate committee passed dangerous, discriminatory legislation under the false guise of protecting such rights. In a move that once again demonstrates how out of touch the Michigan Legislature is with the public it purportedly represents, the Senate Health Policy Committee passed the License to Discriminate Bill (Senate Bill 136), which allows medical facilities to refrain from offering health care services and procedures based on religious or moral standards. Who can calculate the devastating real-life impact of allowing hospitals, medical groups, insurance companies, pharmacies and research universities to refuse to care for those in need? 

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of moving one step forward and two steps back on reproductive freedom. Just yesterday, Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger, a Republican, publically proclaimed mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds for women seeking abortions have no place in his House. When we posted on Facebook to thank Speaker Bolger for listening to us about women’s health care, a few people commented with skepticism that true progress had been made. But I was hopeful – hopeful that this progress would last more than 24 hours.  Less than a day later, news sources announced that his colleagues in the Senate would be dropping abortion coverage for senators and their staff effective May 1. There are 38 state senators – 34 men and four women. Apparently, women senators are entrusted to make decisions about our state, but not their own bodies or health care. Could it be that once again men are calling the shots about women’s health care?

To: Governor Rick Snyder P.O. Box 30013 Lansing, Michigan 48909

They did it behind closed doors.  Yesterday, while the police locked the public out of the Capitol, the Michigan Legislature sneaked a set of extremist add-ons onto bills meant to reform Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance. Provisions tacked on to Senate Bill 1293 and 1294 contain extreme measures 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. Urge Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Daniel Loepp to stand in opposition to these dangerous measures These provisions would force women to do the impossible — predict an unplanned pregnancy or a future medical crisis in order to purchase an expensive insurance rider in advance. Not only that, but shockingly insurers wouldn't even be required offer such riders: leaving many women without the support of their insurer in a time of need.  These last minute, politically-motivated additions would make it difficult, expensive  and sometimes impossible for women in our state to get the legal and medically necessary health care they need. Blue Cross Blue Shield is in the business of keeping Michigan healthy. Let's urge them to support a woman's ability to make health care decisions in a crisis. Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Daniel Loepp could use his influence to recommend the Governor drop these extremist measures. Urge him to stand up for Michigan women and for a truly healthy Michigan by emailing him directly at dloepp@bcbsm.com Read more about the Capitol Lockout, including videos and blogs