The MCC, which advocates public policy in accord with the Catholic Church’s teachings, approved its agenda for the new session in December.
“Catholic and other religiously based institutions have for decades provided excellent service in the fields of health care and child placement, and those agencies’ ability to continue to serve the public in their faith tradition is a priority for Michigan Catholic Conference,” said Tom Hickson, vice president for public policy and advocacy. “The sad reality is that, despite the work these institutions accomplish for citizens of the state, especially poor and underprivileged children and families, efforts are underway by hostile entities to close faith based institutions solely because of their religious teachings.”
A bill that would have protected conscience rights was considered in last year’s legislative session and likely will be taken up again. In addition, the MCC will continue to fight for a provision passed in several other states that would prohibit abortion coverage in any health care plan, including those set up under new federal exchanges. The provision would be legal under the new national health care law, MCC spokesman Dave Maluchnik said in a statement.
“For nearly 25 years Michigan has prohibited taxpayer funded abortion and since the passage of Proposal A in 1988 the abortion rate has been cut in half from previous levels,” Hickson said. “There is no justifiable reason why any taxpaying citizen in Michigan should be forced unwittingly to pay for another person’s abortion.”
Among others, the MCC will also advocate for policies that serve to:
- End the state constitutional ban on aid to non-public schools
- Amend Michigan’s no-fault divorce laws while seeking to uphold the constitutional definition of marriage as one man and one woman
- Protect the health care coverage of low- and moderate-income families and individuals
- Keep funding for essential services, including housing and transportation assistance, for vulnerable persons in the state budget
- Let faith-based providers of services deliver to those in prisons, regardless of citizenship
- Amending Michigan’s mandatory minimum sentencing laws including life without parole for juveniles convicted as adults
- Give priority to the reunification of families in immigration laws
A complete list of legislative priorities is available at www.micatholic.org.
