FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
September 29, 2015
Contact: Sam Inglot, 616-916-0574, sam@progressmichigan.org
Michigan Legislature & Congress Attack Women’s Reproductive Rights
Anti-choice crusaders in Michigan and Washington push radical agenda
MICHIGAN — Progress Michigan is proud to stand with Planned Parenthood in Michigan and across the country as extremist-backed elected officials continue to push for an end to a woman’s constitutional right to safe and legal abortions.
“What we’re seeing from conservatives in Michigan and Washington is despicable,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan. “The legislation moving through the Michigan Legislature and the hearings going on today in Washington D.C. amount to one thing: a coordinated attack on women’s health by right-wing extremists.”
In Michigan, a committee voted out Right to Life-backed legislation that seeks to add more language to Michigan’s existing anti-coercion laws that makes it illegal to coerce women into getting an abortion. The legislation is problematic because it doesn’t address all forms of reproductive coercion and insinuates that women aren’t smart enough to make decisions about their own bodies.
“Extremist groups like Right to Life have one goal: making abortion illegal,” Scott continued. “This organization doesn’t care about women’s rights or their health, they only care about their own agenda and political power.”
Meanwhile, in Washington D.C. the House Oversight and Ethics Committee held a hearing targeting federal funding to Planned Parenthood. The goal of the hearing is to fulfill the conservative agenda of defunding services provided by Planned Parenthood. The organization’s president, Cecile Richards, was brought to the hearing to answer questions. Michigan Reps. Brenda Lawrence, Justin Amash and Tim Walberg sit on the committee.
“This witch hunt going on in Congress is a shameful attack on a well-respected health care provider that provides quality services to millions of women each year,” Scott added. “It’s terrible that Reps. Walberg and Amash have chosen to follow the lead of extremist groups over women in their districts and across our state.”
###