MADISON, Wis. –  After years of finding ways to take away access to health care for pregnant people, Rebecca Kleefisch is trying to strike a new tone and lie that she cares about Wisconsinites’ access to health care.

In an interview yesterday, Rebecca Kleefisch said that prenatal care was “obviously already free” and wants to invest resources into care for pregnant people. What she fails to mention is that the Walker-Kleefisch administration filed multiple lawsuits against the Affordable Care Act, which for the first time guaranteed maternity care as an essential health benefit insurers must cover in the United States.

REBECCA KLEEFISCH: “Now, after Tony Evers has gone, and I am governor, we will be putting more state resources behind these options to surround women with the resources they need. And I’m not only talking about health care, which is obviously already free for those women, and then also postpartum is also free.” [Vicki McKenna Show, 5/10/22]
Rebecca Keefische certainly did not advocate for policies to make health care more accessible when she was in office. Kleefisch called Walker’s opposition to expanding BadgerCare, which provides prenatal and postpartum care for low income Wisconsinites, a “model for the nation.”

Most recently, Kleefisch admitted to supporting a total ban on abortions in Wisconsin without exceptions. Medical professionals and physicians agree — abortion is health care.

“Rebecca Kleefisch believes that less people should have access to care,” said Hannah Menchhoff, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Rapid Response Director. “She has never shown interest in protecting health care for women and those who can become pregnant. It’s a joke that she pretends to want to invest resources into maternal care now, when she actively sought opportunities to make it harder to access.”

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