Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A lame duck walks into an
abortion clinic and says, “Your door frames aren’t wide enough. You need to
shut down this clinic.” The doctor on staff says, “Is this a joke?” The duck
replies, “No, this is religious freedom.”
Michigan
House Bill 5711 is just one of a series of bills passing through the Michigan legislature in
the name of religious freedom. How does the size of a doorway relate to the
ability to practice one’s religion? Well, it depends on the location of the
doorway: If it’s in an abortion clinic, then, apparently, it has everything to
do with religious freedom. HB5711 will:
Regulate
abortion clinics as surgical centers by imposing strict physical building
requirements on them, such as minimum doorway sizes and minimum square footage.
The regulations could effectively shut down some clinics in the state (Bassett).
The bill also, “includes a provision that ends telemedicine
abortions, which are commonly used by women in rural and medically under-served
areas of the state” (Bassett). Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan claims
that 21 of 83 Michigan
counties have no local obstetrician-gynecologists, “so telemedicine allows
doctors to prescribe medication abortions to women in early stages of
pregnancies through a phone or internet consultation” (Bassett). Most startling
about this legislation is that, just last July, a bill
expanding telehealth services easily passed through both houses and was
signed by the governor (Bassett, Perna). So, it’s not that telehealth services
are bad overall; they’re just bad when it comes to women’s reproductive rights.
If HB5711 wasn’t so funny, maybe this one will be: A doctor
informs a rape victim that the rape resulted in a pregnancy. The woman wants an
abortion, but is informed that her insurance (in fact, no insurance plan in the
state) will cover the surgery. The woman cries, “But abortion is legal!” The
insurance company responds, “Yes, and so is religious freedom.”
Prevent
all insurance plans in Michigan
Never mind who gets nominated to the Supreme Court; abortion
doesn’t need to be outlawed outright. In Michigan ,
piece by piece, access to abortion can simply be stripped away: Strapping
clinics with unnecessary regulations, banning telemedicine abortions in areas
where face-to-face medical access is logistically hampered, preventing
insurance companies from covering abortion. In the end, it doesn’t matter if
it’s legal because if there are enough hurdles, abortion will, in effect, be
illegal.
Okay, let’s try one more: A gay man walks into a public
university counseling office seeking counsel on his relationship with his
boyfriend. The counselor says, “Sorry, I can’t help you with that. I’ll refer
you to someone who approves of your lifestyle.” The gay man says, “Is this a
joke?” The counselor says, “No, this is religious freedom.”
If you’re asking yourself why anyone would work at a public
university as a counselor and be unwilling to work with clients with different
lifestyles, then you’re on the right track. Yet, back in 2009, Democrat Tupac
Hunter introduced legislation
that would allow college students in psychology, social work, and counseling
degree programs to deny counseling services to clients if such services
conflicted with their religious or moral views (Ford, “SB 518”). Michigan House
Bill 5040, the “Julea Ward Freedom of Conscience Act” passed through the House,
then stalled in the Senate (SB 518) (Maynard “Republican Endgame”).
Yet, far from shying away from the Julea Ward bill, just a
few days ago, the Senate passed SB
975, the “Religious Liberty and Conscience Protection Act” which allows all
persons in the health care field, employers, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists,
to deny services based on conscience objections. Most intriguing about this
bill is that Michigan
already allows health care professionals to opt out of providing abortions.
Under this new bill, in cases of life threatening emergencies, health care
professionals could not deny service,
and, in all cases, they could not deny service based on “individual status”
which apparently means sexual preference and race (Gray).
Hmm, so what would this law be allowing providers to opt out
of? According to Planned
Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, the law uses such broad definition that
any service, such as blood transfusions or vaccines, could be denied. Making
the law even more threatening is the fact that it applies to whole
institutions, not simply individuals: “For example: Some areas of the state
only have Catholic hospitals. If they are allowed to refuse certain services,
individuals that live in the area will have no other source of care” (Planned
Parenthood).
Supporters of this legislation think the opposition is
“ridiculous” for suggesting that a doctor might not provide service to an AIDS
patient (Gray). After all, all doctors take the Hippocratic Oath. If that’s the
case, then why do we need the legislation at all? If doctors are above the
pettiness of making lifestyle judgments, what do we need this legislation for?
Right, I forgot, this is about protecting religious freedom.
The conscience objection law not only adds another hurdle to
abortion and contraception access but also to health care access generally. With
this legislation, patients will have to shop for doctors based not only on their
geographic location, years in the field, and reputation, but also on their religious
and moral preferences, and all of this presumes that they can actually locate a
doctor within their area.
What other business gets to record all of your most personal
information (disease, pregnancy, drug use, allergies, traumatic events, etc.),
then say, “Hmm, my religious beliefs prohibit me from helping you with your
problem. Why don’t you try this other doctor?” There is something inherently
wrong with this model. Health care is a business designed to serve all
consumers because good health is important not only for the individual patient but
for society as a whole.
With the pace at which these laws are getting passed through
Michigan ’s
legislature, it is clear that even lame ducks can sprint. They just can’t learn
new tricks.
Sources:
“2011 Senate Bill 518.” Michigan Mackinac Center
Bassett, Laura. “Michigan
Abortion Legislation Package Moves Forward.” Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 6 Dec. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/06/michigan-abortion-bills_n_2253380.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular
Ford, Zack. “Michigan House Passes Anti-Gay ‘License to
Condemn’ Counseling Bill.” Think
Progress. Think Progress, 15 Jun. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/06/15/500434/michigan-house-passes-anti-gay-license-to-condemn-counseling-bill/?mobile=nc
Gray, Kathleen. “State Senate Approves ‘Moral Objection’
Bill that Would Allow Providers to Deny Health Care.” Detroit Detroit Free Press, 6 Dec. 2012. Web. 10 Dec.
2012. http://www.freep.com/article/20121206/NEWS06/121206072
Maynard, Mark. “For those of you who were wondering what the
Republican Endgame Would Look Like….” MarkMaynard.com.
MarkMaynard.com, 7 Dec. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. http://markmaynard.com/2012/12/this-is-what-the-republican-endgame-looks-like-womens-rights-gay-rights-public-education-all-being-systematically-dismantled-this-week-in-michigan/comment-page-1/
Maynard, Mark. “New Legislation in Michigan Senate would
empower health care workers to discriminate….” MarkMaynard.com. MarkMaynard.com, 4 Dec. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. http://markmaynard.com/2012/12/new-legislation-in-the-michigan-senate-would-empower-health-care-workers-to-discriminate-on-the-basis-of-sexual-orientation-and-religion/
Perna, Gabriel. “Michigan Governor Signs Telemedicine Bill.”
Health Care Informatics. Health Care
Informatics, 6 Jul. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.
http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/news-item/michigan-governor-signs-telemedicine-bill
“Reproductive Legislation in Michigan .” Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan
“Rights of Conscience vs. Civil Rights.” Pew Research
Center Pew Research
Center
Sands, David. “’Julea Ward’ Bill Passed in Michigan House Allows Religious Counseling
Students to Deny Gay Clients.” Huffington
Post. Huffington Post, 14 Jun. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/14/julea-ward-bill-freedom-of-conscience-act-in-michigan-house-allows-discrimination-against-gay-clients_n_1597658.html
“SB 518. The ‘Julea Ward Freedom of Conscience’ Bill.” MPIPP 3.8. MPIPP, n.d. Web. 10 Dec.
2012. http://www.mpipp.org/Newsletters/newsletter-volume3-number8.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment