Michigan National
Organization for Women Post
Office Box 860 East
Lansing,
Michigan 48826 (517) 485-9687
www.michnow.org
January 31, 2008
To Members of the Michigan House:
Greetings:
Re:
Senate Bill 776
The Michigan National
Organization for Women urges you to vote NO on Senate Bill 776 that would duplicate a federal law
already banning an abortion procedure that is sometimes the safest method to
protect a womanÕs health and her future fertility.
Opposed by Mainstream
Medical Providers - The ban on so-called partial birth abortion in SB 776 is
opposed by the American Medical Association, the American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Nurses Association, the American
Medical WomenÕs Association, the American Public Health Association, and
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, among others. Doctors say a ban on intact dilation
and extraction, the correct name for partial-birth abortion, forbids options
they need if they are to practice the safest and best medicine to preserve a
womanÕs health.
The intact dilation and
extraction abortion method is safer because there are fewer insertions of
instruments into the uterus, reduces risk of perforation, reduces the likelihood
of retained fetal tissue, reduces blood loss, and shortens the time of
anesthesia exposure. These are
significant advantages for women with serious medical conditions such as
previous hysterotomy or cesarean section with a vertical scar; where the fetal
skull is too large to exit a partially dilated cervix, where the woman has
placenta previa and accreta, chorioamnionitis, or where the fetus has
abnormalities such as severe hydrocephaly or other anomalies incompatible with
life outside the womb. (See Brief
of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as Amicus Curiae Supporting Respondents, in Carhart II, 550 USSC ____.)
Partial-birth Abortion
DoesnÕt Exist in Science Š Partial-birth abortion is not terminology used
by doctors to describe a form of abortion. Partial-birth abortion is a politically created construct
designed to arouse revulsion by those not exposed to descriptions of any
surgical procedures, much less surgical abortion. Those who created the partial-birth abortion construct and
are advancing it to Michigan legislators oppose all abortions at any stage of
pregnancy. In our view SB 776 puts
affected women at risk of health complications, including risking womenÕs
future fertility, in the name of political advantage for those who oppose all
abortion. Those who support SB 776
as introduced are signing on to risking womenÕs future health, a cruel and
uncaring act toward real living women in Michigan.
Dilation and Extraction
in Michigan Š According to Glen Copeland, Director of the Division of Vital
Records and Health Statistics at the Michigan Department of Community Health,
the procedure most nearly approximating partial-birth abortion is dilation and
extraction (D & X). The Department
of Community Health questionnaire of abortion providers doesn't ask whether D
& X was the principal procedure used, so he had to look at the detail in
the 9 questionnaires from 2006 abortion providers who had listed an abortion procedure
as "other." Of those 9, none
reported using D & X. We
conclude that total abortion ban proponents are trying to fool this Legislature
into believing that a law duplicating the federal ban is needed in Michigan
when the facts reveal otherwise.
Amendments
Needed - Like the federal ban, SB 776 is extreme and overreaching
legislation that disregards women's health and may risk their future fertility. We urge the Senate to amend the bill in
the following ways:
(1) Substitute Section 90H (4) with the following language:
(4)
It is not a violation of this act if in the physicianÕs reasonable medical
judgment an abortion is necessary to save the life or preserve the health of a
mother whose life or health is endangered.
(2)
Remove section (5) entirely. It
permits third parties to sue a medical provider for an abortion that the third
party may believe is a partial-birth abortion. Because the unscientific definition of partial-birth abortion
is so vague in this bill, allowing third parties to sue will encourage
frivolous and expensive lawsuits. Those who favor tort reform should be especially concerned
with the open-ended emotional damages provision.
Abortion Decisions Should
Be Made by Women and Their Doctors - Medical and moral decisions concerning
abortion methods need to be left to the affected women and their doctors and
not legislated.
In summary, Michigan NOW opposes SB 776 and urges you to vote
NO. At least support a health
exception and eliminate the private lawsuit option.
Sincerely,