Last week’s opinion named “‘Rape Insurance’ assault on women” did not present accurate information about Public Act 182 of 2013, which provides the option to purchase a separate insurance rider for elective abortions instead of having it built into an insurance policy.

In October, 4 percent of voters signed a petition to put this bill before the state legislature. The legislature still voted on the bill, as with all legislation. This is a process in Michigan’s Constitution that allows the people to propose legislation, and has been used before for many different issues.Contrast this with the veto where Gov. Snyder overrode the decision of the people’s representatives when a similar bill was proposed in 2013. Four percent of voters is still more than only one out of 9.9 million deciding the law.

The legislators have now twice approved this bill. If the “other 95 percent” of voters wanted to stop this measure, they have had many chances to do so, either through their legislators or through similar grass-roots initiatives.The claim that this bill does not cover miscarriages unless women buy the insurance rider is not true. The bill, in fact, says elective abortion does not include “treatment upon a pregnant woman who is experiencing a miscarriage or has been diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy.”

The opt-out bill only affects insurance for medical procedures other than elective abortions. Coverage for miscarriages is not being changed. Contrary to the popular idea about the cost of an abortion, which is often thought to be in the thousands of dollars, the average cost of an abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy is around $450.Insurance copayments and deductibles are much greater than this amount.

Only 3 percent of abortions in Michigan in 2012 were covered by insurance. Since the insurance costs are more than the actual cost for the abortion, this number of insurance coverage makes a great deal of sense. When it costs more to pay for the insurance than it does to pay for the actual operation, people will choose to just pay the lower price. If both of those costs seem too high, check out Care Clinic of Marquette, which offers pregnancy information and services for free

The “egregious error” concerning the Hyde Amendment, which has prohibited federal funding for abortion since 1976, is not an error, since Michigan tax payer dollars can still be channeled to abortion coverage. The law in question is a state law. Seventeen states do have state-level funding for abortion. The Hyde Amendment only prohibits federal funding.

The abortion rights lobby, which is fighting against this bill, know that they cannot stand against the real topic of discussion: that it is wrong to force someone to do something that is against their beliefs. Without this bill, that is what will happen.

Those who are anti-abortion and believe abortion is wrong should not be made to pay for abortion.

If you believe in abortion, support abortion or think you would ever choose to get one, you should strongly consider buying the optional rider for abortion.

But those of us who do not believe in or support abortion don’t want abortion coverage built in to the insurance we purchase.