LANSING, MI - Health care providers could decline to provide services based on conscience or religious grounds under a proposal that has begun to advance in the Michigan Legislature.
The Senate Health Policy Committee advanced Senate Bill 136 today, sending the measure to the Senate floor. The bill would have to pass the Senate, House and get Gov. Rick Snyder's signature to become law.
The Michigan Catholic Conference and Right to Life of Michigan are among the supporters of the legislation.
“This legislation proves that patient rights and employer rights are not mutually exclusive of religious rights,” Tom Hickson, a Catholic Conference vice president, said in a statement.
Hickson said: “The bill unequivocally states patient discrimination is not allowed.” He said the bill strikes a balance to ensure "no one is denied critical health care" without compromising an individual's religious rights.
But critics of the measure disagree. They say it would open to the door to discrimination against patients and could limit access to birth control, sexually transmitted disease testing and other services.
Some of the groups that have been opposed to the legislation include the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women and Progress Michigan, which released a statement:
“Its appalling that Republicans think they have a right to shove their political agenda between a woman and her doctor,” said Jessica Tramontana, Communications Director of Progress Michigan. “This bill allows health care providers and insurance companies to refuse services based on arbitrary moral or religious objections. SB 136 is dangerous, and winds back the clock because it would allow health care providers or insurance companies to deny patients the vital health care services they need like birth control, cancer screenings or mammograms.”
State law already allows hospitals, doctors and other medical professionals to assert conscientious objections to performing abortions on grounds of conscience or religion. The proposal now advancing in the Senate would go beyond that by allowing employers and health insurance providers to decline offering other services and medications that they oppose as a matter of conscience.
Supporters of the legislation have said it addresses concerns over the portion of the Affordable Care Act that requires insurers and employers to provide free birth control. The mandate has been the subject of several lawsuits from Catholic and other religious groups.
Legislation similar to Senate Bill 136 has been discussed by lawmakers for years. A similar bill passed the Senate, but not the House, during the 2011-12 session.
Email Tim Martin at tmartin4@mlive.com. Follow him on Twitter: @TimMartinMI