CONTACT: Julaine Appling, President
608-268-5074
MADISON— “We’re always happy when public funding of abortion is halted,” said Wisconsin Family Action president Julaine Appling, responding to Governor Walker signing Assembly Bill 128 into law yesterday. Wisconsin Family Action actively supported the bill.
Appling joined other supporters of the legislation, along with legislative authors Sen. Dave Craig (R-Big Bend) and Rep. André Jacque (R-De Pere), in the Governor’s office for the signing ceremony.
Assembly Bill 128 prohibits the state from purchasing employee health-insurance plans that cover elective abortions, thereby stopping taxpayers from paying for such this life-taking procedure.
Appling continued, “The authors’ persistence has paid off in getting this bill done. Abortion isn’t health care. Taxpayers shouldn’t fund this life-taking procedure. We are grateful Governor Walker has signed this bill and look forward to the state now contracting exclusively for health-insurance plans that don’t include abortion.”
While this pro-life bill has become law other solid, well-supported proposals died in committee as the session ended last week. The Heal Without Harm Initiative, authored by Sen. Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls) and Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc) was one of those. This two-bill package both banned the trade and use of the body parts of aborted babies and also made sure parents suffering a miscarriage or stillbirth were informed they could donate their baby’s tissue for research. Senate and Assembly leadership ensured these bills were killed in both houses.
Another pro-life bill, authored by Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) and Rep. Jacque, would have ended an arrangement between the UW-Madison Medical School and the Madison Planned Parenthood facility. Under the terms of the agreement Medical School personnel both performed abortions at the facility and also used the facility to instruct medical students in abortion techniques. That bill too died in committee in both the Senate and the Assembly.
“This past session held great promise early on. Many of the legislators who were part of the unprecedented Republican majorities had ardently proclaimed their pro-life positions while campaigning. Unfortunately, when asked to act on their professed beliefs, quite a few, especially those in leadership, were unwilling to do so. Instead, too often they took active steps to make sure certain bills never had a chance. Apparently they don’t think pro-life voters will know or care,” Appling concluded.
