Testimony on HB 4652 — Prohibit Sale and Distribution of Fetal Tissue
23 September 2003
House Bill 4652
House Health Policy Committee Hearing
Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the committee for giving me the opportunity today to testify on behalf of H.B. 4652. I am Kristen Hemker and I am with the Michigan Catholic Conference, the official voice of the Catholic Church on matters of public policy in Michigan. I am here in support of H.B. 4652.
As we have been hearing today, legal abortion has led to the practice of selling fetal body parts and transferring them around the country for profit. This gruesome practice is occurring around the country and possibly right here in Michigan. This means that abortionists profit off of women in desperate situations and then, profit off of selling their dead children’s body parts.
HB 4652 aims to simply prohibit the practice of selling fetal body parts obtained from children aborted and, as the sub language clarifies, in elective abortion procedures. The Michigan Catholic Conference believes prohibiting the profit from the sale of fetal body parts will help to restore some respect to the children whose lives are lost through abortion. It is also our hope that HB 4652 will help remove the pressure off of women in desperate situations from feeling compelled to abort and then donate the remains of their dead child. This bill will slow one of the gruesome outgrowths of the abortion industry by removing the financial incentive to abort and transfer fetal body parts for profit.
Again, on behalf of the Michigan Catholic Conference, I ask you to vote “yes” on HB 4652 to help stop this gruesome practice.
