Right to Life of Michigan has submitted signatures for an initiative to ban insurance from covering abortion. If the initiative becomes law, coverage for abortion would only be available through an unworkable “rider” system. This initiative has no exemptions for survivors of rape or incest. Proponents of this initiative compared the rider system to auto and flood insurance by claiming that “nobody plans to have their homes flooded. You have to buy extra insurance for those.” Women should not have to plan on being the victim of a crime.
The Bureau of Elections is currently in the process of determining if there are enough signatures to move the initiative forward.If signatures from 3% of Michigan voters are certified, the proposal will be sent to the state legislature, where they will have 40 days to approve, deny, or send the question to Michigan voters to decide on the November 2014 ballot.
Proponents of this initiativeare circumventing the legislative process in order to push their agenda through with signatures from only three percent of Michigan voters. In fact, only 36% of Michigan voters support this initiative!
If politicians are determined to take this issue up again – which has already been vetoed by two governors on opposite ends of the political spectrum – then they should let Michiganders take a vote. Decisions about pregnancy are personal and Michigan voters do not want to see legislators replace the judgment of women, their families, their faith, and their doctors.
Tags: Abortion, Abortion restrictions, Michigan, Insurance
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