Wis. State Assembly Passes Two Pro-Life Bills

The Wisconsin State Assembly passed two pro-life bills late Tuesday. The bills have already passed the State Senate and now move to Governor Walker’s desk for his expected signature.

Senate Bill 237: “Strong Communities…Healthy Kids Act”

Senate Bill 237, authored by Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) and co-authored by Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac), passed on a 60 to 34 vote. It reverses the contraception education/instruction sexual education mandate of 2009, and gives public school districts the freedom to adopt abstinence-only human growth and development curricula. The legislation also prohibits school-based volunteer health providers from providing instruction in human growth and development thus preventing Planned Parenthood nurses and physicians from teaching about abortion and contraception in our public schools.

“Giving our kids the tools they need to practice chastity is the only truly effective way to protect their bodies and their hearts from the pitfalls of premarital sex,” said Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin. “We thank the Wisconsin Legislature for restoring local control in the sensitive area of sexual development and rejecting Planned Parenthood’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ contraception instruction mandate,” said Hamill.

Senate Bill 92: Obamacare abortion coverage opt-out

Senate Bill 92, authored by Senator Rich Zipperer (R-Pewaukee) and co-authored by Representative Robin Vos (R-Burlington), passed on a 61 to 34 vote. It prohibits any plan in Wisconsin’s prospective health insurance “exchange” from covering abortion. Obamacare allows health insurance plans offering abortion coverage to participate in a state's insurance exchange and to receive federal subsidies unless the state legislature proactively opts-out of offering such plans. Although the state exchanges do not go into effect until 2014, several states have already enacted laws opting-out of abortion coverage including Arizona, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Louisiana, and Nebraska.

“In poll after poll, Americans overwhelmingly say they oppose the inclusion of taxpayer-funded abortion in health care reform legislation,” said Matt Sande, legislative director for Pro-Life Wisconsin. “Government must not force us to participate in the killing of our preborn brothers and sisters with our federal tax dollars,” said Sande.

Pro-Life Wisconsin applauds the Wisconsin Legislature for passing common sense bills that protect children and pro-life taxpayers. We look forward to their enactment into law this spring.

PLW

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