Let MI Vote: The Law No One Wants

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.