U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, a Republican who represents Michigan's 11th district west of Detroit, continues to make headlines by taking controversial stances on hot-button issues.

McCotter, along with House Republican Leader John Boehner, issued a statement last week expressing concern that Democrat's proposed health care legislation may encourage assisted suicide.

"This is very dangerous," McCotter said Friday. "We, in Michigan, have already fought back an attempted assisted suicide several years ago. And yet you see that the people who support this are trying to use this bill to advance this agenda."

FactCheck.org says that claim, taken even further by former lieutenant governor of New York Betsy McCaughey , is nonsense.

MSBNC's Rachel Maddow took McCotter to task for the statement on Monday.

On Monday, McCotter became the subject of intense debate here on MLive.com after drafting a House resolution demanding an apology from President Barack Obama for saying a Cambridge officer "acted stupidly" when arresting his friend, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

McCotter stuck by his guns on that one, reiterating his position Tuesday on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews.