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 […]

Chris already did an excellent job highlighting the significant shortcomings of Sunday’s Detroit News editorial, which essentially asserts that the sky is falling and we’d all better run away from Michigan’s Medicaid expansion program, the Healthy Michigan Plan. If you haven’t read Chris’ piece, you should. But there’s a sobering omission I had to weigh in on, something that’s left […]

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 […]

While anti-choice activists try to fight the truth with misinformation, it’s imperative to defend the facts. This post is not about abortion. It’s about people’s health and lives. I’m not shying away from the fact that abortion is a legal healthcare service, and that it accounts for 3 percent of the services Planned Parenthood provides. No one is denying that […]

The healthcare provider is under attack. Let’s rally the troops. Imagine someone who always looked out for you was getting beat up by the school bully, or was getting smeared by an enemy at work who was telling vicious lies about them. You’d leap to their defense, right? After all, if they’ve been there for you — no matter what […]

The law has delivered great progress, but there’s still more work to be done. With LGBT Pride Month still in full swing, it’s a great time to celebrate the progress made by and for the LGBT community, especially in healthcare access thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). At the same time, there’s a lot at stake this month, between […]

Sponsors call the law “cruel and unnecessary” and are fighting to restore women’s full access to healthcare. In 2013, Michigan made national news — and not in a good way — for passing a law that forces women to buy additional health insurance for necessary medical care during a miscarriage or abortion, even in cases of rape and when the […]

June 24 event in Auburn Hills is open to the public — RSVP today to learn how to protect your rights. The ACLU of Michigan is hosting an educational event to help the community understand their rights at religiously sponsored hospitals. The June 24th event in Auburn Hills focuses on patients’ rights in hospitals operated by Catholic healthcare providers. As […]

With control over every aspect of Michigan’s government, Republicans are no longer even trying to hide their contempt for anyone they disagree with. By the time you read this post, there’s a good chance the Michigan GOP will have pulled another underhanded stunt. They’re becoming an everyday occurrence. But for now, I’ll focus on two power grabs on April 28 […]