Right To Life Michiana says the St. Joseph County Department of Health has overstepped, leveraging its position to lobby for abortion in the political sphere.

The group says the taxpayer-funded agency’s role is to carry out the will of its executives, the county commissioners. Yet, the Department of Health’s recent statement and decision to lobby legislators was advanced without approval of the commissioners and without a board vote.

In its statement, the health department made policy recommendations that advocate for abortion in exceptional circumstances of pregnancy, including those in which a pre-born human is diagnosed with a fatal anomaly, a child is conceived during rape or incest, and/or the life of a mother is at risk with the continuation of a pregnancy. The department also stated that it is lobbying legislators who represent St. Joseph County to advance this view.