Sign the petition and make your voice heard. The very first post I wrote for Eclectablog was about Senate Bill 136, the “Religious Liberty and Conscience Protection Act.” This bill would allow healthcare providers, facilities and insurers to refuse to provide or cover “objectionable” healthcare services on religious or moral grounds. As I explained in that post and two that […]

It’s about opposing Obamacare from every possible angle.

Considering all the shenanigans in the Michigan legislature lately, you might have forgotten about Michigan Senate Bill 136, the “Religious Liberty & Moral Conscience Protection Act.” Well, I haven’t — and I hope you won’t, either. It could come up for a vote in the Senate at any time and we need to let our Senators know this bill does not represent the will of most Michiganders, including many in the healthcare field.

As I wrote here previously, the bill would give healthcare providers, facilities and insurers the right to refuse to provide or cover “objectionable” healthcare services on religious or moral grounds. But the bill is alarmingly vague, opening the door to discrimination and refusal to provide care to almost anyone, for almost any reason.

Worst of all, there are no genuine protections for patients in this bill. Those are even more vague because the bill isn’t about patient care at all. It’s about legislators and a vocal minority who want to put up roadblocks to anything even remotely related to Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act.

Click through for more.

This is NOT what Jesus was talking about, folks

The more I talk to people about Michigan SB 136, the “Religious Liberty & Conscience Protection Act,” the more I see that I’m not alone in my serious concerns about this bill. Not even close.

As I wrote in my guest post here last week, the bill would give everyone involved in healthcare broad rights to make care decisions based on religious or moral views — everyone, that is, except for patients.

Much more after the jump.

Maybe someone read them the U.S. Constitution?

North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis, a Republican, has ended any chance that a recent resolution that would pave the way to establishing an official state religion will see the light of day. Tillis said yesterday that he will not allow a vote on the resolution known as the “Defense of Religion Act”.

The bill was a response to an ACLU lawsuit regarding the reading of Christian prayers at official government functions.

Click through for details.

Hey! There are crazier Republicans than Michigan Republicans!

This is absolutely incredible. Republicans in North Carolina have introduced legislation that will allow them to set up their own state religion and ignore all federal laws.

If you think I’m joking, read on.

We’re on a roll with guest posts here at Eclectablog this week. Today we have a terrific essay by Amy Lynn Smith, a Michigan-based writer and communications strategist who frequently covers healthcare, government and issue advocacy. She’s writing about Senate Bill 136, legislation that is touted as giving healthcare providers a right to decline to provide or pay for certain healthcare services that they find “objectionable”. As you’ll soon see, this bill is dangerous and there is far more to it than first meets the eye. Fortunately it has not yet passed in the Senate or the House so there is still time to contact your legislator and urge them to vote against this odious, discriminatory bill.

Amy comes to me highly recommended as a writer. In addition to her writing, she served as Deputy Digital Director for Obama for America-Michigan in 2012. You can read more from her at www.alswrite.com and you can find her on Twitter at @alswrite. Please welcome her to Eclectablog. Her piece is after the jump.

Now you’re going too far

After the Obama administration bent over backwards to accommodate the Catholic Church’s complaint that having to provide health insurance to their employees that covers birth control, the Church threw it aside claiming it wasn’t good enough. Why? In part because it doesn’t allow any employer that wants to to impose his or her religious views on their employees.

My rant after the jump.

America is about to get saved. On 11/11/11, TheCall Detroit prayer rally is gonna save us all. On November 11–12, 2011, thousands from across America will gather to Ford Field (Home of the Detroit Lions) to fast, pray and cry out to God. We will gather to this city that has become a microcosm of our national crisis—economic collapse, racial […]

Via the Detroit Free Press: One of the world’s noted Christians says a Rochester Hills country club canceled his speaking engagement after learning about his views. Richard Dawkins, a scientist from England who is known for his outspoken defense of Christianity, planned to speak tonight at the Wyndgate Country Club at a fund-raising dinner for the Michigan branch of the […]

I want to take a moment to appreciate the readers that I have at Eclectablog. While I don’t get scads of comments, the ones I do get are generally high quality, even from those that disagree with me. Yesterday I got what I consider to be the best comment I’ve ever received on this site. I was in regards to […]

On March 20th, Islamophobe and 19th Century throwback, “Pastor” Terry Jones, held a mock trial where he put the Koran on trial, found it guilty and then burned it with video cameras rolling. It was part of something they called “International Judge the Koran Day” which, apparently took place only in the sad little backwater community in Gainesville, Florida where […]