A question we hear often is “Well, if you are prolife, then why aren’t you offering more support through programs and legislation for women and their families?” The answer immediately is always “We do! We were able to get several prolife items within the budget for 2023.”
It’s hard to follow through on these efforts when we have a governor who vetoes every prolife item.
This year, we put several prolife provisions in the education budget. According to Governor Whitmer, she vetoed these provisions because they “would create a gag rule preventing reproductive health-service providers from even mentioning abortion and otherwise make it harder for women to get the health care they need.”
- The $500,000 for colleges/universities to set up pregnant and parenting student services offices.
- The $500,000 for community colleges to set up pregnant and parenting student services offices.
- The $5m for colleges performing ethical stem cell research.
- The research grants awarded to schools on the condition that they do not conduct research on aborted fetal tissue.
As of yesterday, Governor Whitmer vetoed $21.4 million in pregnancy aid funding that was put into the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) budget. According to Governor Whitmer’s Communications Director, she vetoed the items because of “connections to fake women’s health centers or implementation concerns.” The director also gives the excuse that pregnancy resource centers use “deceptive advertising that targets young women and women with low incomes who are seeking abortion care … and then lie to women about medical facts”
Here are the items that she vetoed:
- $10 million to fund marketing programs that promote and provide educational materials on adoption
- $2 million to fund a tax credit to adoptive parents.
- $4 million for grants for safe housing for pregnant women.
- $3 million in grants for a maternal navigator pilot program that would be awarded to nonprofit counseling that promotes childbirth and alternatives to abortion.
- $1.5 million in grants to pregnancy resource centers.
- $700,000 for pregnancy and parenting support services.
- $50,000 to provide notice and information to health care providers and the public that the DHHS shall not use state restricted funds or state general funds, or allow grantees or subcontractors to use those funds, to fund any elective abortion.