Governor Rick Snyder signs bill to restrict & regulate abortion facilities, vetoes Blue Cross change

LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) - Michigan governor Rick Snyder signed a bill Friday that will place new rules on facilities that provide abortions. It will also require that a healthcare professional screens women to make sure they are not being forced to have an abortion.

According to the Associated Press, the bill package also enacts regulations related to the disposal of fetal remains. It additionally requires private medical offices to be licensed as freestanding surgical outpatient facilities if they perform at least 120 abortions annually and undergo annual state inspections.

Another key provision requires a physician to perform a mandatory physical examination before prescribing drugs that would cause a medically induced abortion, and prohibits the use of telemedicine, or a web-based camera for that exam.

On Friday, Snyder's office also announced that he had vetoed another bill that was meant to reform Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Lawmakers had added abortion-related provisions to that bill and Snyder said he refused to sign the bill into law for that reason.

“When I proposed these reforms, there was no reference to abortion. Regrettably, those provisions were later added,” the governor said in a press release.