Abortion foes in Michigan have been given the go-ahead to launch a petition drive.
As we hear from The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Rick Pluta, they want to ban insurance companies from including abortion coverage in basic health policies.
Women who want abortion coverage would have to purchase a separate rider, or convince their employers to add it to their health policies.
The petition drive needs more than a quarter million registered voters to get the question before the Legislature.
Barbara Listing of Right to Life of Michigan says the Legislature has already voted once for this, but was vetoed last year by Governor Rick Snyder.
“This is simply good public policy that people do not want to pay for other people’s abortions,” she says.
Megan Hodge Groen of Planned Parenthood says abortion rights advocates will urge people not to sign the petitions.
“Right to Life is really urging the Legislature to work around the governor,” he says.
But Right to Life has successfully used the petition process to enact three other anti-abortion laws.