Following is the statement of Democratic Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Maggie Brickerman on today’s Senate action that infringes on the rights of women and their doctors to make private medical decisions.
“Scott Walker Republicans in the state Senate today put Wisconsin in the ranks of states like Alabama and Mississippi by voting to mandate medically unnecessary procedures and the reading of a state-authored shaming script for women seeking safe, legal abortions.
“This fast-tracked, radical overreach into the lives – and bodies — of Wisconsin women undermines the ability of women and their doctors to make private medical decisions, and is a crippling blow to women’s ability to access comprehensive reproductive healthcare.
“To be clear, this bill has nothing to do with protecting women. But this bill has everything to do with advancing a rigid, extreme ideology that boosts Scott Walker’s credibility with Tea Party supporters in his campaign for president.
“Unfortunately for Scott Walker, Republicans lost by staggering margins in 2012 because of the very kind of extreme rhetoric and policy proposals impacting women’s health that the state Senate passed today. Voters in Wisconsin and across the country were clear that they wanted elected officials who are focused on preserving the economic security of the middle-class, not on dictating what women do with their own bodies.
“Instead of heeding that lesson, Scott Walker Republicans have abandoned their promise to “focus like lasers” on jobs in further pursuit of their radical war on women. When Scott Walker signs this bill into law, as he has promised to do, he will be doing so while Wisconsin ranks 44th in the nation in job creation, 45th in wage growth, and dead last in short-term job growth.
“On everything from jobs to women’s access to healthcare, Scott Walker is leading the Republican race to the bottom.”
