Michigan Teens in Trouble:
Lawmakers Seek to Reduce Unintended Pregnancy & STDs

Yesterday, in Lansing, MI, State Rep. Rebekah Warren and State Sen. Gilda Jacobs introduced a series of bills that, they say, will address alarming state statistics showing that 1 in 4 teens has a STD, and the state has an unacceptable number of unplanned pregnancies.

The comprehensive set of 15 bills address sex education, dispensing of prescriptions, regulation of crisis pregnancy centers, and access to emergency contraception for victims of criminal sexual conduct or rape.

One of bills seeks to amend the state public schools code to mandate abstinence-plus education. Presently, Michigan only allows abstinence-only education (even though studies have shown these programs don't work and can even lead to more instances of STDs and unplanned pregnancies because youth don't have the tools to address these situations). According to Jacobs, the teens need good sex education.

Bill, H.B. 822, would mandate that facilities providing emergency and urgent care for rape victims make emergency contraception available as well as mandate counseling and access to antiretroviral medications for rape victims as well. Part of this legislation (H.B. 2358) would also mandate that pharmacists dispense medications prescribed by a doctor. Current federal rules allow pharmacists to refuse to participate in medical treatments they find morally or ethically offensive. This new bill specifically states that pharmacists cannot refuse to dispense or transfer prescriptions based on ethical, moral or religious beliefs. Warren states, "We don't think a pharmacist should sit in judgment on a prescription a doctor has prescribed and that is in their patient's best interests."

Finally, H.B. 2472 would create a new law to regulate crisis pregnancy centers; it mandates that such centers must provide medically accurate and objective information about the wide range of options available to women facing unintended pregnancies, including abortion services; require that such clinics post notices to clients when the organization does not employee licensed medical professionals nor provide information about abortions or birth control; and ensure distribution of specific educational literature provided by the Michigan Department of Community Health. If passed, this legislation would allow clients to sue crisis pregnancy centers for damages if a group violates the act.

Warren explained that these organizations have been found to be providing false information in the past, and its a problem seen elsewhere in the country. "From our perspective, we really want women to know when they're walking in that they are getting unbiased information, they're getting true information, they're getting medically accurate information," Warren said. "We wouldn't let people do fraudulent advertising in lots of other places in the state, and we just want that same courtesy when it comes to women's reproductive health."

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