Call To Action
MICHIGAN
For Catholics, public virtue is as important as private virtue in building up the common good. In the Catholic tradition, responsible citizenship is a virtue; participation in the political process is a moral obligation. --Faithful Citizenship, USCCB
Religious Freedom Must Be Upheld in Contraceptive Mandate Debate, Says Catholic Conference - Oppose Senate Bills 41 and 42;
From Michigan Catholic Conference
(LANSING) — As the Senate Health Policy Committee addresses legislation today concerning contraceptive mandates, the Michigan Catholic Conference is urging lawmakers to uphold and respect the bedrock constitutional principle of religious freedom.
“The Conference has no interest in mandating the teachings of the Catholic Church upon secular society, and in the same respect the State has no right, in light of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, to force its law upon the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church and her institutions,” said Paul A. Long, Michigan Catholic Conference Vice President for Public Policy.
Today the Senate Health Policy Committee took testimony on Senate Bills 41 and 42; legislation that would mandate employers that provide prescription drug plans to include contraception. Such measures have been introduced in past legislative sessions and have routinely failed to include exemptions for religious organizations that do not find contraception acceptable.
According to testimony given by Long before the committee: “The Michigan Catholic Conference opposes Senate Bills 41 and 42 because we believe them to be a direct assault upon the religious freedom rights of religious employers in general and the Catholic Church in particular. This legislation would impose a mandate upon Catholic religious institutions to provide contraceptive insurance coverage, coercing essential ministries of the Catholic Church under the color of law to act contrary to one of the Church’s most profound religious teachings on matters of morality and social justice. If this legislation were to pass, it is difficult to imagine any limit upon the state’s ability to require religious institutions to violate the principal tenets of their religious beliefs.”
Contact: Dave Maluchnik, Director of Communications
(517) 372-9310, dmaluchnik@micatholicconference.org
To readTestimony on Senate Bills 41 and 42
ACTION ALERT:
Michigan Pro-Life Groups Back Discharge Petition on Partial-Birth Abortion
Special legislative motion is needed because a House committee refuses to vote on a partial-birth abortion ban the Senate already approved.
The ban received approval from the Michigan Senate on a bipartisan 24 to 13 vote.
When Senate Bill 776 got to the House, Speaker of the House Andy Dillon assigned it to the House Judiciary Committee, where he knew its chairman, Rep. Paul Condino, would block a vote on it.
However, pro-life members of the House of Representatives aren't giving up.
On Wednesday, pro-life representatives plan a vote on a discharge motion that would take the partial-birth abortion ban out of the committee and place it on the House floor for a debate and vote.
Ed Rivet, the legislative director of Right to Life of Michigan, told LifeNews.com his group strongly supports the effort.
"We're asking pro-life citizens across Michigan to contact their State Representative in Lansing to ask him or her to move the partial birth abortion bill by whatever vote is necessary," he said. read more