Prolife Bills to Become Law, Funding Source will be Key

Waiting until literally three hours to the deadline, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed Senate Bill 72 on December 29, enacting the Pregnant and Parenting Students Services Act as Public Act 500 of 2004. She also signed H.B. 5637, which sets up a matching grant program for non-profit organizations to purchase ultrasound equipment. Please read the article, Ultrasounds help mothers see humanity of unborn, on page 4 of the RLM News.

The Pregnant and Parenting Students Services Act law is targeted to aid prolife pregnancy care centers. P.A. 500 sets up a grant program for colleges and universities to establish on-campus offices that will give pregnant students information and resources for carrying their pregnancies to term without having to quit school, or turn to abortion as an alternative.

The Pregnant and Parenting Students Services Act calls for up to four pilot programs to be started at two community colleges and two universities. Because of budget shortfalls at the state level, the project will only be operable in the immediate future if it receives private sector donations. Furthermore, since these institutions have little to no experience in aiding pregnant students in a crisis situation, a model for how these campus offices should function has to be developed. Right to Life of Michigan is already in the process of developing a comprehensive plan for creating that operational model, along with identifying and recruiting pilot schools and looking for means of raising private donations. Because this is a first-in-the-nation project, we have to build it from the ground up. - Foundation building takes time and requires patience and perseverance. But we are committed to making P.A. 500 a long-term success. Funding for the ultrasound matching grants will also have to come from private donations. Both of these laws establish a structure for advancing critical prolife activities but at present only provide us with “permission to work hard.”As the 2003-04 session came to a close on December 29, all unfinished bills died. With the new session beginning, all bills will have to be reintroduced. New versions of prolife bills for this session are being redrafted and will be introduced as the session gets rolling in late January to mid-February.

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