S.B. 453 – Sen. Rebekah Warren
H.B. 4765 – Rep. Leslie Love
Current Status
S.B. 453 and H.B. 4765 were introduced on June 14, 2017 and were referred to their respective Health Policy Committees.
Description
S.B. 453 and H.B. 4765 are identical bills that would require all Michigan hospitals permit abortions, contraception services, IVF and sterilizations to be performed on their premises.
Background
Many hospitals have a religious affiliation that prohibits abortion, sterilization, contraception, and IVF. This bill would override the hospital’s mission to deliver healthcare that is in-line with the doctrines of their faith. Requiring all hospitals to provide all types of “reproductive healthcare” is contrary to conscience protections and singles out certain procedures. Many hospitals are unequipped to perform every possible medical procedure, and they are not forced by law to provide them. Forcing hospitals to violate their conscience is bad medicine.
History
Genesys Hospital in Genesee county is a Catholic hospital that refused to sterilize a patient in 2015. The patient was scheduled to deliver her third child via C-section and wanted to be sterilized at the same time due to the fact that she had a brain tumor. The hospital denied her request, so she delivered at another hospital. The ACLU filed a complaint against the hospital.