News Release: Catholic Conference Praises Pro-Life House for Passing Partial-Birth Abortion Ban

(LANSING)—Michigan Catholic Conference Vice President for Public Policy Paul A. Long made the following statement this evening after the House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 776, legislation that would outlaw partial-birth abortion in the state, by a vote of 74–32:

“Speaker Dillon and the pro-life majority in the House that voted for this legislation, Democrats and Republicans, deserve praise for outlawing a procedure that exemplifies just how far-reaching and out-of-touch the abortion issue has become. Today’s vote is a victory for those who have spent several years working to uplift the dignity of women and the human rights of the unborn by ending the atrocity known as partial-birth abortion. Now that Senate Bill 776 has passed both the House and Senate with clear bipartisan majority support, the Conference looks forward to Governor Granholm signing the bill, which mirrors the constitutionally-sound federal ban, into law.”

On October 10, 2003, Governor Granholm vetoed Senate Bill 395, the “Legal Birth Definition Act,” which sought to outlaw partial-birth abortion by granting full legal status to the child as soon as any part of his or her body emerges from the mother. In a message following the veto, the governor described the reason for her action in the following manner:

“I do so because federal courts repeatedly have declared unconstitutional efforts to end partial birth abortion, and Senate Bill 395 does not remedy deficiencies identified by the courts.”

Says Long: “Michigan Catholic Conference does not believe the Governor needs to be reminded that the United States Supreme Court, on April 18, 2007, found the federal partial birth abortion ban constitutional, thereby ensuring that measures which mirror the federal ban would be constitutional as well. The game of playing politics with human life is beyond tiresome and must end for the sake of the most vulnerable among us—the unborn.”

Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state.

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