Earlier this month, the Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee approved bills that ban the practice of partial-birth abortions, a practice that is already banned by federal law. The federal law was also upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007.
Supporters of SB 160 and SB 161 say a state law is necessary so local officials can assist federal authorities when enforcing the law.
These are some examples of anti-abortion bills moving in the Michigan legislature.
Louise Knott Ahern wrote about other bills being considered in today's Lansing State Journal.
Ahern writes about bills aimed at preventing insurance companies from covering abortions unless the coverage is added as a separate rider on a policy. From the LSJ:
Within two months of being sworn in, GOP legislators introduced 11 bills backed by Right to Life. The most sweeping change would come from two bills awaiting action in the House committee on health policy. Introduced by Rep. Jud Gilbert of Algonac, they would prohibit insurance companies from covering abortions unless a woman adds the coverage as a rider on her policy and pays for it separately from her monthly premium... The bills don't apply to emergency abortions in which the mother's life is at risk, nor do they ban insurance coverage outright. But abortion rights advocates fear they would essentially have that effect.
Sarah Scranton of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan says "we have looked in states that already have this and we have not been able to find one insurance provider that offered a rider for abortion coverage. Women don't plan for unplanned pregnancies. These riders don't exist."
If passed, the law could also apply to insurance plans that will be created under the federal health care law.
In 2014, health care exchanges are expected to be set up under the federal health care law. These group plans will be available to people who can't afford individual private plans. Ahern writes in a "last-minute" compromise, President Obama accepted a "clause that allows states to require the separate abortion riders for insurance plans purchased through the exchanges."
