Lawsuit seeks to make it easier for transgender people to change the gender marker on their state IDs. In a victory for fairness and anti-discrimination protections, on Monday a federal judge refused Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson’s motion to dismiss an ACLU lawsuit. The lawsuit challenges a state policy that makes it nearly impossible for transgender Michiganders to change […]

Right to Life-backed bills would legislate substandard care for pregnant women by making a legal procedure illegal. With their non-solution to road funding as a prime example, Michigan Republicans keep proving they’re not very good legislators. They’d make even worse doctors — especially since none of them have medical licenses. But that’s not stopping them from playing doctor. Legislation that […]

Transgender advocates are urged to be at U.S. District Court in Detroit to show their support. Earlier this year, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Michigan filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Secretary of State challenging a department policy that makes it impossible for many transgender individuals to correct the gender on their driver’s licenses and other […]

When it comes to healthcare, decisions should be left to women and their doctors — not legislators. Every story has at least two sides, but in the case of the October 13 meeting of the Michigan House Criminal Justice Committee, one side stuck to facts while the other focused on ideology. And when the topic is the health and safety […]

Complaint filed with state licensing agency demands investigation and discipline for failure to provide potentially life-saving procedure. After repeated refusals by Catholic-owned Genesys Hospital to adhere to medical standards and perform a potentially life-saving procedure on a pregnant woman, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan has filed a formal complaint with a state licensing agency. The complaint, filed with […]

These bills aren’t about protecting women from reproductive control. They are about satisfying anti-abortion activists. As early as this week, the Michigan Legislature could vote on a pair of bills that would criminalize the act of forcing a woman to have an abortion. Although we can all agree abortion coercion is a bad thing, it’s not the problem Right to […]

Catholic hospital systems don’t adhere to accepted medical standards, and the ACLU is demanding an end to this religious exemption with a federal lawsuit. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Michigan announced a federal lawsuit filed today on behalf of their members against Trinity Health Corporation, one of the largest Catholic health systems in the country, […]

Michigan woman with a brain tumor is denied care that would be standard at any non-Catholic hospital. A Catholic hospital in Michigan is denying a pregnant woman care on the basis of religious principles, ignoring the life-threatening implications of their refusal to adhere to medical standards. Jessica Mann, a pregnant woman with a life-threatening brain tumor, requested an exception to […]

Take action: Tell Michigan lawmakers to stop the attacks on women’s health and trust women to make their own choices. UPDATE: Committee vote on coercive abortion bills scheduled for the morning of Tuesday, September 29. Contact the committee immediately and request a NO vote on House Bills 4787 and 4830. Details in the original post below. They still haven’t figured […]

This isn’t the first time Michigan’s Genesys Regional Medical Center has let religious doctrine override medical standards. Jessica Mann couldn’t be happier about the impending arrival of her third child in October. But having any more children could put her health at risk — in fact, carrying this child to term is downright dangerous, because the 33-year-old Mann has brain […]

The deal is done, but no word yet on the fate of reproductive health and other care standards Catholic-run hospitals are allowed to ignore. As reported in Crain’s Detroit Business on Monday, Crittenton Hospital in Rochester is now officially part of Ascension Health Michigan. Ascension Health is the largest nonprofit health system in the U.S. — and a Catholic-affiliated health […]