Governor signs new law for abortion clinics in Michigan

By James B. Kelleher

Fri Dec 28, 2012 7:39pm EST

n">(Reuters) - Michigan's Republican governor on Friday signed into law new rules for abortion providers that supporters say will protect the health of pregnant women but critics say will shutter clinics and restrict access.

The law signed by Governor Rick Snyder increases state oversight of abortion clinics and establishes a screening protocol to make sure women are not being forced to get an abortion.

The measure requires health facilities or clinics that perform more than 120 abortions a year to become licensed freestanding surgical outpatient facilities.

It also requires physicians to "properly and respectfully dispose of fetal remains."

"This bill respects a woman's right to choose while helping protect her health and safety, including making sure a pregnant person is not being coerced into a decision," Snyder said.

The Michigan law is the latest flashpoint in the battle between opponents and supporters of abortion, a procedure that is legal in the United States. In the past two years, conservative Republicans in more than a dozen U.S. states have take steps to eliminate state funding for Planned Parenthood, a family planning provider that performs abortions.

Critics of the Michigan law fear its insistence on new, standalone facilities will hurt women in rural and low-income areas as it could force some clinics to close. They say questioning women on whether an abortion is voluntary subjects them to a type of interrogation.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion rights group that opposed the measure, said it could force many existing abortion providers in the state to either tear down their offices and rebuild from the ground up -- or shutter their practices.

The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which also opposed the law, called its passage a setback for reproductive rights and the health of women.

"Safety was never the intention of this law. The only thing this law accomplishes is to make a difficult decision even more difficult," said Rana Elmir, the communications director for the Michigan ACLU.

Snyder vetoed a separate measure on Friday that would have restricted insurance providers and businesses from providing elective abortion coverage in employee health plans.

The bill also would have forced the victims of rape or incest who did not purchase separate abortion coverage to pay for the procedure out of pocket.

"I don't believe it is appropriate to tell a woman who becomes pregnant due to a rape that she needed to select elective insurance coverage," Snyder said in his veto message.

"And as a practical matter, I believe this type of policy is an overreach of government into the private market."

Elmir, at Michigan ACLU, called Snyder's veto of the second measure "encouraging."

(Reporting by James Kelleher; Editing by Greg McCcune and Andrew Hay)

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Michigan governor signs bill giving local governments fiscal options

n">(Reuters) - Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed into law on Thursday a bill that gives options to cities and school districts for dealing with severe financial problems, including bankruptcy.

The law, passed by the Republican-controlled legislature earlier this month, allows local elected officials to choose between Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy, if the move is approved by the governor; an emergency manager; arbitration with a neutral party; or a consent agreement laying out terms for fixing the government's finances.

It replaces a controversial law repealed by Michigan voters on November 6 that made it easier for the state to intervene in fiscally troubled cities and schools and gave state-appointed emergency managers running the governments the power to suspend collective bargaining agreements with workers.

That law, known as Public Act 4, was suspended in August pending the outcome of the vote and the state has been relying on a former, weaker law since then.

Snyder, a Republican, defended the new law against criticism that it is too similar to Public Act 4.

"This legislation demonstrates that we clearly heard, recognized and respected the will of the voters," the governor said in a statement. "It builds in local control and options while also ensuring the tools to protect communities and schools districts' residents, students and taxpayers."

The law also includes appropriations for administrative expenses, making it ineligible for a petition drive that could result in its repeal by voters.

Because the new law will not take effect for 90 days, it will have no immediate impact on eight cities and school districts currently operating with emergency financial managers and three cities, including Detroit, which are operating under consent agreements.

Even after it kicks in, the law keeps in place existing state-appointed managers and any ongoing review process to determine if a manager is needed, which is the case in Detroit.

Snyder on December 18 named a review team for Michigan's largest city, a step in a process that could lead Detroit to file what would be the biggest-ever municipal bankruptcy.

That team met twice last week and is on an expedited schedule to report to the governor, Caleb Buhs, a spokesman for the Michigan Treasury Department, said on Wednesday.

Detroit was able to avoid the appointment of an emergency manager by entering into the consent agreement earlier this year that gave the state more oversight of the city.

However, slow progress on reforms led state officials to launch a review process earlier this month that could lead to a state-appointed manager, who could decide to take the city to federal bankruptcy court unless the state blocks the move.

(Reporting By Karen Pierog; Editing by Leslie Adler and Leslie Gevirtz)

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