Contact: Rep. Chris Taylor, 608-266-5342
MADISON – Today, Assembly Republicans continued their assault on the health of women and working families by prohibiting insurance coverage of medically necessary abortions in the state health insurance plan. Assembly Bill 128 interferes with a woman’s relationship with her physicians and once again, places Republican legislators in the examination room. The bill only allows abortion coverage when a woman’s life is threatened, rape victims report the crime to authorities, or incest victims report the crime to authorities. Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) issued the following statement:
“Today, I again sat in disbelief listening to Republican male legislators question the veracity of rape victims. I was equally stunned when a Republican male legislator suggested that women should be compelled to bare children to support his economic development plans. But as outrageous as these comments were, the heartbreaking cruelty of this bill is what sticks with me. It is the women who tragically have wanted pregnancies that go terribly wrong and need extensive medical intervention who will be most impacted. The biggest tragedies of their lives will be compounded when they discover that in addition to not having the child they wanted, they will not have the insurance coverage they need when they need the best medical care the most. I am astounded by the utter callousness of my Republican colleagues when it comes to women’s health and lives. Clearly, women’s lives are not as important as their extreme political agenda. Once again, women lose.”
