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LANSING, December 13, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Michigan Governor Rick Snyder Tuesday signed the nation’s 24th state Right to Work law, a move that some observers say presents an opportunity to at least partially defund major pro-abortion and pro-homosexual activist organizations.

The Right to Work law, which is expected to take effect in April, frees Michigan workers from being forced to join or pay dues to a union in order to get a job.  Michigan has long been one of the nation’s most heavily unionized states. Until now, the government and auto industries, which employ thousands of Michiganders, have required workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment. 

Many workers don’t realize that their union dues are spent by union officials not just on collective bargaining, but on politics and social activism – much of it offensive to the union members they are supposed to represent. 

Despite the fact that their membership is about evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, major Michigan unions spend nearly 100 percent of their political cash on the campaigns of some of the nation’s most pro-abortion Democratic politicians. 

They also support Planned Parenthood and same-sex “marriage” campaigns.

“Planned Parenthood and the UAW [United Auto Workers] share a planned vision for this country,” said Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards at the National Community Action Program (CAP) Legislative Conference in Washington.

Elise Hilton of the Acton Institute, a Michigan-based think tank focused on religious liberty, said the new law would “absolutely” help defund the progressive agenda.

“I don’t think people outside of maybe the leadership of the UAW or Planned Parenthood know about the strong ties between unions and Planned Parenthood,” Hilton told LifeSiteNews.com. “I don’t think they realize that the president of Planned Parenthood was the keynote speaker for the UAW conference, or that the UAW says on their own website that they ‘strenuously support a woman’s right to choose.’” 

The ties between unions and the pro-choice movement go beyond mutual support. The leadership of the two groups overlaps, as well. 

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Last year, the UAW appointed Mary Beth Cahill director of its national political efforts.  Cahill had previously spent five years running EMILY’s list, a political action committee (PAC) dedicated to electing pro-abortion politicians. 

UAW President Bob King showered Cahill with praise for her efforts, saying, “During her five years at EMILY’s List, she helped turn the pro-choice PAC into an unrivaled political powerhouse—the largest in the country at the time.”

Hilton said she thinks raising awareness of these ties is the key to getting workers to hold union leaders accountable for how their money is spent.

“How many [workers] know that their union dues are going to support Planned Parenthood?” she asked. 

“I think this is something that the pro-life and pro-family movements in Michigan and elsewhere need to make known,” Hilton told LifeSiteNews.com.  “It’s not just being forced to join a union – for many people, it’s being forced to support actions and organizations they find reprehensible.”

Full disclosure:  The author of the above story previously served as director of public affairs for the National Right to Work Committee.