- Video shows doctors, patients, politicians and college students, discussing reproductive freedoms in East Lansing.
- They discussed an assortment of reproductive freedoms from personal experiences, as well as potential threats to these rights.
- They talked about legislation that they say will help protect reproductive rights .
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
On Monday, doctors, patients, and college students joined politicians in East Lansing to discuss reproductive freedoms in Michigan, and their potential threats.
They discussed an assortment of reproductive freedoms, from personal experiences, and legislative action.
Michigan resident Cherish Paska spoke on her personal experiences. “I can never explain to anyone unless they’ve been through it, just the emotional impact it had on me and my husband, financially, emotionally, mental health, all the things.”
Another Michigan resident, Kevin O'Niell, also spoke. “We found all of the road blocks right from the start, we couldn’t use a surrogate in Michigan. There was no safety, there was no protection.”
They discussed the Assisted Reproduction and Surrogacy Parentage Act, which Representative Steckloff (D) says will protect surrogate families.
“We have laws on the book that are actually very detrimental to intended parents or anyone going through assisted reproduction whether IVF or surrogacy," she said. "There are laws on the book that would force you as a parent to adopt your child.”
They also discussed potential threats to reproductive freedoms in the state. These include the ruling by the Alabama State Supreme Court that deemed embryos as children, as well as a lawsuit from Right to Life.
Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist II said, “The Right to Life lawsuit that’s happening right now, that lawsuit will not only gut the Reproductive Freedom Act, but it will take away IVF in Michigan. They are basically trying to catch up to what the Alabama Supreme Court did.”
I reached out to Right to Life of Michigan for a statement. Legislative Director, Genevieve Marnon refutes the lieutenant governor’s accusations.
“IVF has been in operation since the 1970’s, I personally know IVF conceived children, it’s not in threat," she said. "There’s no threat to IVF.”
The legislation discussed by Representative Steckloff (D) has passed the House and is currently waiting on the Senate.
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