DETROIT — The Michigan Catholic Conference applauded bills passed by the Michigan Senate and a House committee last week that would protect religious liberty for health care providers and faith-based child placement agencies.

The “Religious Liberty and Conscience Protection Act,” which seeks to limit abuses of religious freedom such as forcing religious employers to cover abortion-inducing drugs or requiring pharmacists or hospitals to dispense objectionable prescriptions that violate the dignity of human life, “strikes an appropriate balance,” MCC Vice President for Public Policy and Advocacy Tom Hickson said in a statement. It passed the full Senate Dec. 6.

“It is important to note the bill protects constitutional rights for individuals and institutions, but does not limit care for anyone in a medical emergency nor does it allow for discrimination based on an individual’s status.”

Senate Bill 975 says a religious accommodation would not apply when immediate action is required and no other qualified health providers are available, or if the request for accommodation is based on a patient’s status, coverage or ability to pay.

But it also protects those who object to certain health services on conscience grounds from civil, criminal and administrative prosecution. Similar bills have been defeated in past legislative sessions, Hickson said.

The MCC also is supporting a pair of bills in the state House that would grant conscience protection to faith-based adoption and foster placement agencies who refuse, for example, to adopt children to unmarried couples, including homosexual couples. Such agencies have been forced to close in places such as Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., to avoid violating their religious beliefs, Hickson said.

House Bills 5763 and 5764 “would prevent such an attack on vulnerable and neglected children in Michigan by allowing faith based organizations to operate how they always have, within their religious tradition,” Hickson said. “The legislation does not change or restrict how any adoptions are administered today; the bills simply recognize religious liberty rights and protect those rights from coercive efforts.”

Rep. Ken Kurtz (R-Coldwater) introduced the two bills, which are awaiting consideration from the full House. Sen. John Moolenaar (R-Midland) introduced the Senate bill.

The Michigan Catholic Conference is the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Michigan.