Sides Wage Fights Over New Or Proposed Abortion Laws In Wis., Mich.
Wisconsin Planned Parenthood is challenging a state law in court that could expose doctors who give medically induced abortions to criminal charges. In the meantime, Michigan bills limiting abortion move closer to becoming law.
The Associated Press/(St. Paul) Pioneer Press: Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Sues Over Abortion Medication
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has filed a legal challenge to the state law that subjects doctors who perform medication-induced abortions to possible criminal charges. Planned Parenthood stopped offering the medication abortions when the law took effect in April. The organization continues to offer surgical abortions at its clinics in Madison, Appleton and Milwaukee (12/12).
Detroit Free Press: Bills Limiting Abortion Options Step Closer To Becoming Law In Michigan
Two sweeping bills aimed at limiting abortion options moved closer to Gov. Rick Snyder's desk Wednesday, adding to two others already awaiting his signature. From a chaotic Lansing, where protests over right-to-work this week had overshadowed abortion concerns, Ed Rivet, spokesman for Michigan Right to Life, was thrilled. "Those three issues were our top issues: conscience, insurance, and regulation and reform," he said, referring to the issues addressed in the bills. "That we're doing them all simultaneously is pretty remarkable. ... This is a bit of rewards for 25 years of work." One bill passed the Senate 27-10 and calls for more stringent licensing of abortion clinics; the other passed out of the House Insurance Committee into the full House and would allow health care providers to refuse service based on moral objections, religious reasons or matters of conscience (Gray and Erb, 12/13).