ROYAL OAK, Michigan (LifeSiteNews) — Pro-lifers in Michigan are condemning Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer for signing into law a pro-LGBT bill that allows women to be compensated for renting their wombs to people who are looking a obtain a child through surrogacy.
On Monday at a press conference in Royal Oak, Whitmer approved the misleadingly named “Michigan Family Protection Act.” Among other things, the package of nine bills overturns the state’s 36-year-old Surrogate Parenting Act, which outlawed the unethical practice of paid surrogacy in 1988. It also ensures in vitro fertilization.
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“This is the most pro-family thing that the legislature has done,” Whitmer absurdly claimed at the event.
Right to Life (RTL) Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference (MCC) have both issued stinging rebukes of the changes, which will go into effect three months after the 2024 legislative session due to the Senate not obtaining two-thirds approval.
“For profit surrogacy contracts that pay females for the use of their reproductive means violate the inherent dignity of women and unethically allow children to be the subject of a contract. The practice of surrogacy undermines the significant prenatal bond formed between a child and the mother who nurtured him or her through birth,” MCC said in a press statement earlier this week.
“Today’s bill signing is a disgraceful election year attempt to mislead voters with the fantasy that IVF, prenatal care and abortion are at risk in Michigan. This could not be further from the truth,” Amber Roseboom, President of RTL, has noted.
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In vitro fertilization and abortion have featured prominently in American politics in recent months following judicial decisions. Alabama’s Supreme Court recently recognized the personhood of human embryos, prompting both Democrats and Republicans to comment and take legislative action on IVF. The U.S. Supreme Court has also heard oral arguments on the legality of chemical abortion pills.
Democrats currently have a majority in the Michigan Senate with a slight 20-18 edge while the state House is split 54-54 with two vacancies. Since her reelection in 2022, Whitmer has approved a slew of pro-abortion, anti-religious liberty, and pro-LGBT bills. Catholic News Agency reports that with the passage of the “Family Protection Act,” the only remaining states that do not permit paid surrogacy are Nebraska and Louisiana.