LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Democrats on Monday announced
long-shot legislation to repeal Michigan’s law requiring people or
businesses wanting abortion insurance coverage to buy an extra policy in
advance, an attempt to keep the issue in voters’ minds before the
November election.
The bills are expected to die in the
GOP-controlled Legislature, which approved the law in December after
Right to Life of Michigan collected more than 300,000 voter signatures
to effectively override a veto by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder a year
before.
"It’s our job to represent people and stand up and do what
we believe is right," said Rep. Sarah Roberts, a St. Clair Shores
Democrat, who said lawmakers have heard from concerned residents and
health care providers since the measure took effect 2½ months ago.
The
law prohibits health plans from paying for elective abortion services
unless an inexpensive supplemental policy is bought or a woman’s life is
at risk. There are no exceptions for rape or incest if the rider is not
purchased.
Democrats noted just seven of 45 health insurers in
the state are offering the optional rider and only to employers, which
means women buying their own insurance either on or off a new
government-subsidized health marketplace cannot obtain the additional
coverage.
Critics joining Roberts and Senate Democratic Leader
Gretchen Whitmer of East Lansing at a Capitol news conference included
Dr. Timothy Johnson with the University of Michigan’s Department of
Obstetrics and Gynecology and Jennifer Lane of Ann Arbor.
Lane
told of how insurance covered her hospitalization for an abortion she
had after learning her fetus was missing a part of its brain and likely
would not survive to term. If the law had been in place at the time, she
said, an already traumatic situation would have been worsened if she
and her husband also faced thousands of dollars in medical costs.
The
measure does not require women suffering miscarriages or those
diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy to have purchased a rider. Yet
Johnson said there is uncertainty and confusion in two types of cases —
"incomplete" miscarriages where a fetus will not survive but still has a
heartbeat, and genetic abnormalities.
"This law has a lot of
perverse outcomes, perverse consequences that are causing patients to
suffer, causing women to suffer, causing families to suffer, causing
marriages to suffer," he said.
Twenty-five states have opted out
of covering abortions on the insurance exchange. Michigan is the ninth
to also restrict private plans from covering the procedure.
Right
to Life spokeswoman Pam Sherstad said the law is "clearly written" to
state that women experiencing miscarriages do not have to have purchased
separate abortion coverage.
"Women need to know they will be cared for," she said.
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Online:
House Bills 5697 and Senate Bill 1010: http://1.usa.gov/1sjkAfg