Women’s Healthcare Options
“On women’s healthcare, Senator Leah Vukmir’s strident anti-choice viewpoints are among the most severe and punitive stances held by any elected official in the country. Her career-long, ideological crusade to take away women’s healthcare access and options prove that she is just far too extreme and dangerous for Wisconsin women.”
Background:
VUKMIR SAID MORNING-AFTER CONTRACEPTIVE PILL PROMOTES “BAD CHOICES,” AND WORKED TO BAN UNIVERSITY HEALTH CLINICS FROM PROVIDING IT TO STUDENTS
Vukmir Supported Legislation That Would Prohibit University of Wisconsin Health Clinics From Providing Morning-After Contraceptive Pill To Students. “The state Assembly late Thursday narrowly passed a bill that would prohibit University of Wisconsin System health clinics from advertising, prescribing or dispensing the morning-after pill to students.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/17/05]
Vukmir Said Morning-After Contraceptive Pill “Promotes Bad Choices.” “Rep. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa) said the university shouldn’t be in the business of offering a service that encourages young women to be irresponsible. ‘This is about promoting bad choices, and the university shouldn’t be the taxpayer-funded vehicle for it,’ Vukmir said.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/17/05]
AS COMMITTEE CHAIR, VUKMIR PUSHED THROUGH A 20-WEEK ABORTION BAN THAT DID NOT PROVIDE EXEMPTIONS FOR RAPE, INCEST OR THE HEALTH OF THE MOTHER
Vukmir Supported Legislation To Ban Non-Emergency Abortion Procedures After 20 Weeks Of Pregnancy. “A fast-tracked Wisconsin bill that would ban non-emergency abortion procedures after 20 weeks of pregnancy advanced through a Senate committee Thursday, but its prospects remain unclear in the Assembly. The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services approved the bill on a 3-2 party-line vote, with Republicans supporting it and Democrats opposing it. Under the proposal, doctors who perform an abortion after 20 weeks in non-emergency situations could be charged with a felony and subject to $10,000 in fines or 3½ years in prison. As written, the bill doesn’t provide exceptions for pregnancies conceived from sexual assault or incest.” [Associated Press, 6/4/15]
Associated Press: Committee Chair Vukmir “Refused To Add A Last-Minute Amendment…That Would Have Prioritized A Mother’s Care Over That Of A Fetus In An Emergency Situation.” “Committee chairwoman Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, refused to add a last-minute amendment from Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, that would have prioritized a mother’s care over that of a fetus in an emergency situation. Erpenbach said bill’s co-author, Senate President Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, was trying to rush the bill through the Capitol, with unexpected consequences. “This legislation is all about treating the fetus first, period. That’s it,’ Erpenbach said. ‘The Senate president has been hell-bent on rushing this to the point that she doesn’t know what it is.’ Vukmir said the state’s existing abortion statute gave sufficient description on treating a mother and a fetus in an emergency situation before she called a vote.” [Associated Press, 6/4/2015]
VUKMIR OPPOSED REPUBLICAN-BACKED MEASURE TO REQUIRE HOSPITALS TO MAKE EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION AVAILABLE TO RAPE VICTIMS
Vukmir Voted Against Emergency Contraception Bill That Passed Through Republican-Controlled State Assembly. “The Republican-controlled state Assembly decisively approved a bill requiring all hospitals – including religious-based institutions- to offer emergency contraception to rape victims. the bill passed 61-35, with 16 Republicans joining the entire Democratic caucus except for one member, Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer of Manitowoc, in support.” [Capital Times, 1/24/08; Project Vote Smart, AB 377]
