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Michigan lawmakers to introduce legislation banning conversion therapy for minors on Thursday
Legislation in Michigan to ban mental health professionals from performing conversion therapy on minors under penalty of losing their licenses will be introduced this week. Conversion therapy, the practice of intervening to alter an individual’s gender expression or sexuality to conform to heterosexuality, involves psychologically damaging processes, bill sponsor Rep. Jason Hoskins (D-Southfield) told the […]
Republican introduces bill banning trans athletes from competing under their identified gender
Legislation in Michigan to require awards and results of athletic events be given “consistent with each competitor’s biological sex” was sent to a legislative committee for consideration this week. A news release from bill sponsor state Rep. Jaime Greene (R-Richmond) said the legislation is meant to protect athletes in the state from being forced to […]
House panel mulls bills expanding help for domestic and sexual violence survivors
Legislation to support victims of sexual and domestic violence and better include Michigan’s 12 Native American tribes in access to services was presented Tuesday to House lawmakers. Lawmakers and advocates testified in the Michigan House Criminal Justice Committee for the need to codify best practices for victim services into law and add some protections to […]
Nessel joins Democratic AGs in brief backing emergency abortion care
Michigan’s attorney general joined 21 other Democratic attorneys general this week in contesting a Texas judge’s decision that a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency care does not require facilities to provide abortions to save the life of the patient. Two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, […]
Whitmer visits with national guard troops, Latvian president during trip abroad
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met with the Latvian president and other Ukrainian allies this week during her visit to Russian neighbor Latvia, her office announced Friday. Whitmer spent time with Michigan soldiers at Camp Adazi joining the 1st Battalion 182d Field Artillery Regiment, which is headquartered in Detroit, for readiness exercises with the U.S. European Command […]
Whitmer directs state depts. to help Michiganders who must requalify for Medicaid coverage
All state departments in Michigan are instructed to help the state health department where they can, per an executive directive issued this week by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, as about one-third of Michigan’s population will have to requalify for their Medicaid coverage next month. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic the Families First Coronavirus […]
House panel weighs bills ending child marriage in Michigan
Forty-two states currently allow child marriage and seven states have no statutory minimum age, including Michigan. Proponents and child marriage survivors testified in a state legislative committee Wednesday in support of legislation to end child marriage in Michigan. This package “costs nothing, but would mean everything” to victims of child marriage, Fraidy Reiss told lawmakers […]
‘A second chance at life’ or a ‘slap in the face to victims of crime’?
A legislative committee heard conflicting testimony on Tuesday on bills that would abolish juvenile life without parole (JLWOP) in Michigan. It is unconstitutional to sentence juveniles to mandatory life without possibility of parole, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012. However, there are nearly 300 individuals in the state serving life sentences for crimes committed […]
MSU graduates praised for their perseverance and compassion at emotional ceremonies
Speakers at Michigan State University’s spring graduation, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, former chief medical adviser to the president, spoke on Friday of resilience, loss and community. Michigan State University students, many of whom attended the school during the COVID-19 pandemic and experienced the horror of the mass shooting in February, gathered on campus in East […]
‘A long time coming’: Natural hair discrimination bill gets Senate committee hearing
Legislation to protect individuals from race-based discrimination due to their hair was taken up Thursday in a legislative committee in Michigan for the first time. After introducing the bill in two previous legislative sessions, sponsor Sen. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) told the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee that creating a respectful environment for […]
Bill adding abortion protections to Michigan’s civil rights act heads to Whitmer’s desk
The Michigan Legislature gave final approval Thursday to legislation barring employers in the state from retaliating against employees for getting an abortion. Since voters approved Proposal 3 in November, which added the right to an abortion to the state constitution, the new Democratic-majority Legislature has been pushing for legislation to remove barriers to reproductive health […]
Whitmer, Planned Parenthood Advocates call for legislation to remove barriers to abortion care
Michigan voters approved the constitutional right to abortion in the last election, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently signed a repeal of a 1930s trigger law criminalizing abortion. But attendees at a Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan (PPAM) lobby day on Tuesday say it’s not enough. When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in […]