WISCONSIN–November 17—Yesterday, Republican Assembly Majority Leader Robin Vos declared his interest in amending Wisconsin’s criminal abortion law by requiring victims of rape and incest to file a police report to qualify for abortion services. Representative Vos’s comments come following a historic election that drove voters to the polls who oppose Wisconsin’s harmful criminal abortion ban that is blocking women from accessing abortion care and forcing them to travel across state lines or remain pregnant against their will.
Steven Webb, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin issued the following statement:
“The results of the midterm election made it clear that an overwhelming majority of Wisconsinites want to restore their ability to make their own health care decisions and believe legislators should repeal the entire criminal abortion ban.
Exceptions for rape and incest do not provide meaningful access or support for survivors, especially when they require survivors to report to law enforcement to qualify. More than 2 out of 3 victims don’t report their assaults.
What survivors of sexual violence in Wisconsin need is to be able to access safe, legal abortions in a timely manner, and not to have to navigate a web of restrictions to access this time-sensitive care.
Representative Vos, it is time to listen to the people of Wisconsin by repealing Wisconsin’s harmful criminal abortion ban because everybody deserves the high-quality health care and the freedom to make their own health care decisions without political interference.”
