In a letter sent to all registered parishioners in the Archdiocese of Detroit, Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron urged Catholics in the archdiocese’s six counties to vote against an extreme ballot initiative on abortion scheduled for the November 8 election in Michigan.
The letter, which was distributed via U.S. mail to hundreds of thousands of Catholic households in southeast Michigan, began appearing in mailboxes during the week of October 24.
If Proposal 3, also known as the “Reproductive Freedom for All” constitutional amendment, is approved, the state of Michigan will become “ground zero” for abortion radicalism in the United States, according to the archbishop.
Polls indicate that the measure’s popularity is nearing 50 percent as the election approaches.
The archbishop stated, “We are rapidly nearing the November 8 election, during which Michigan voters will decide on Proposal 3, an amendment to the state constitution that would provide unrestricted abortion on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy.”
According to the archbishop and others, the risk of Proposal 3 is that its deliberately ambiguous language would render almost all other legislation in the state meant to restrict abortion null and void, transforming the horrible operation into a sort of “super right” under the state’s constitution.
By transforming abortion into a “individual” right, as the language suggests, Proposal 3 would apply to all individuals in the state, including minors, effectively stripping parents of the right to participate in their child’s decision to seek an abortion or even be informed of a minor’s medical decisions.
In a recent interview with the Diocese of Lansing, Dr. Patrick Lappert, a board-certified surgeon, told Faith Catholic that Proposal 3 wants to entrench the notion that the state is more essential than the family. “The amendment claims that the state is wiser than the family who has known and loved this child their entire lives. That is an awful concept. It is an awful proposal that must be rejected.”
Dr. Lappert stated that the proposal would also end parental involvement in sterilization surgeries and sex-change hormones for children.
Given the broad license the measure would allow to the abortion industry in the state, experts anticipate Michigan would become one of the nation’s most popular “abortion tourism” destinations if it were to pass.
“The repercussions of this plan are broad and extreme,” Archbishop Vigneron stated. “Due to its broad and ambiguous phrasing, Proposal 3 would invalidate dozens of current abortion laws,” including those prohibiting taxpayer-funded abortions, abortions based on the sex of the child, partial-birth abortions, and abortions done by unqualified individuals.
“Should this legislation prevail, Michigan would become ground zero for abortions done anywhere, at any time, by anybody, for any reason,” stated the archbishop.
As a constitutional amendment, removing the proposal’s substantial repercussions from the state would be particularly difficult, if not impossible, should voters later have buyer’s remorse.
On October 15, a placard opposing Proposal 3 was photographed in front of the state legislative building in Lansing. As a constitutional amendment, Proposal 3 would establish in Michigan a “super right” to abortion that would trump all other rights, including the right of parents to participate in their child’s medical decisions. (Gabriella Patti | Detroit Catholic)
Marcia McBrien, interim president of the Catholic Lawyers Society of Metropolitan Detroit, told Detroit Catholic via email, “I don’t think people realize just how grave the threat is to existing laws if Proposal 3 passes.” It is not alarmist to suggest that the parental consent requirement could be overturned under Proposal 3; in fact, it appears to be the anticipated outcome.
In a statement, the Catholic Lawyers Society of Metropolitan Detroit echoed Archbishop Vigneron’s opposition to Proposal 3, noting that the measure goes well beyond what its backers are willing to say openly.
“Those supporting Proposal 3 claim that it simply returns Michigan to the days of Roe v. Wade, but as attorneys, we see that it goes far beyond that — it creates a new, vague, and potentially limitless set of’reproductive rights’,” the statement said. Unlike laws established by the state legislature, it would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to repeal or amend Proposal 3 if it is ratified as part of the Michigan Constitution.
Archbishop Vigneron stated that Catholics and other persons of good will must do all possible to resist the idea while there is still time.
“As Christians, we embrace the inherent, God-given dignity of every individual, from conception to natural death. Abortion is a grave violation of the dignity of the most defenseless individual, the unborn child. We Catholics understand this,” stated the archbishop. “By voting against Proposal 3, we provide the groundwork for a culture in which every human life is cherished and women and families receive the necessary assistance to succeed.
“Together, our collective prayer and activity — and our votes — may assist secure the defeat of this measure, thereby protecting the right to life and the inherent dignity of every person,” the archbishop continued.