Source: US Newswire
On April 21, 2004 US Newswire reported, "The Michigan Catholic Conference today praised the passage of legislation that defends religious freedom by protecting a health care right of conscience for institutional and individual health care providers. The bill's movement took place as hundreds of statewide Catholics were in Lansing to participate in Catholic Legislative Day... In recent years, adversarial campaigns, lawsuits and public relations events have been launched to force Catholic health care providers to offer services that conflict with Catholic moral teaching and to prevent affiliations or mergers between them and other-than-Catholic entities. If successful, these efforts would undoubtedly force Catholic hospitals to close -- or substantially reduce their service to the community -- rather than violate their consciences. Approximately 5.1 million Michigan residents are served annually by the 26 Catholic hospitals across the state."