Contact: Rep. Barbara Dittrich 608-266-8551
Madison – Today, Representative Barbara Dittrich (R-Oconomowoc) testified before three legislative committees on the importance of life for all children regardless of gender, nationality, race, or congenital disorder and prohibiting BadgerCare dollars from going to Planned Parenthood.
“I was honored to be able to share with committees in both the Assembly and Senate today about the importance of saving the lives of our unborn children. While I appreciate the angst and fear of a woman seeking an abortion, I want to encourage and support women, even helping them to make the difficult decision to place a child for adoption if they feel unable to parent the child. If we wouldn’t discriminate after birth, we surely should not prior to birth. Furthermore, despite recent pro-life reforms in our state, we still need to close the final loophole in allowing BadgerCare money to be funneled to abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood,” shared Rep. Dittrich.
AB 182 would prohibit a person from performing/attempting to perform or inducing an abortion if the person knows the woman is seeking an abortion solely based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, or diagnosis/potential diagnosis of a congenital disability. AB 183 would utilize a 2-step process, directing the Department of Health Services to cease certification, for the purposes of BadgerCare funding, any abortion provider as well as obtaining a waiver from the federal government to modify the existing BadgerCare program.
“The Lozier Institute along with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services state that there are 7 healthcare clinics in Wisconsin for every Planned Parenthood facility. It is important to note that AB 183 would not shrink the amount of money designated for BadgerCare, rather it would increase the funding levels for 162 federally qualified health clinics and especially rural health clinics which serve a much larger percent of our population with a great array of preventative health care services rather than the regionalized, abortion-specific Planned Parenthood centers. I am grateful to the committee members today for their time and hope to see these bills come before the full legislature for a vote in the near future” concluded Rep. Dittrich.
