Reps. Roys, Pocan issue statements on GOP war on women in Wisconsin

Last night Republicans in the State Assembly waged all-out war on the rights of women here in Wisconsin, and not surprisingly there’s a lot of outrage about what Republicans have done. Democratic State Rep. Kelda Roys is just one of many Democratic elected officials who issued statements critical of Republicans who’ve declared war on women in Wisconsin.

“At all levels of government, Republicans and their right wing ideologue supporters have been pushing for a true reversal of many of the laws that guarantee women an equal opportunity to function in our society. I am only able to serve the constituents of my district because of the successes of past generations of women, including the ability to plan my family. I am devastated that, in my final days in the State Assembly, the very measures that allowed me and other women to serve here are being rolled back,” said Rep. Roys.

To highlight the hypocrisy of Republican efforts to insert themselves into the doctor-patient relationship, Rep. Roys introduced a series of legislative amendments that sought to place these anti-women bills in the proper context.
Rep. Roys’ amendments would:

1. Amend an abortion restriction bill to require all men seeking prescriptions for erectile dysfunction to receive a rectal exam and cardiac stress test. Anti-women legislators have a history of adding medically unnecessary procedures to women seeking abortions, and Wisconsin already has burdensome mandatory lectures and delays for women seeking abortion care.
2. Amend an abortion restriction bill to require a state legislator be present in the exam room during the state mandated “shaming” lecture. Anti-women legislators have already gone so far in inserting themselves into the doctor-patient relationship, requiring their presence as official “State Shamers” will simply make it official.
3. Amend the repeal of the Healthy Youth Act’s requirements for medically accurate, age appropriate sex education to also leave the teaching of the theory of gravity and the germ theory of disease up to local control. Ultimately, the only 100% effective way to protect young people from disease is to withhold knowledge of handwashing and instead have them spend life in a hermetically sealed bubble.

Rep. Mark Pocan, who is also running for the Congressional seat being vacated by Tammy Baldwin, issued a statement as well.

“I’m proud to have served in a body that four years ago passed my bipartisan bill to ensure rape victims have access to emergency contraception in emergency rooms. It was about comprehensive access to healthcare, and it was an important victory for advancing equality in Wisconsin.

“Yet, four short years later, I hardly recognize the Wisconsin State Assembly. This legislative session, Republicans have taken it upon themselves to insert their ‘moral’ judgment into a woman’s very personal and very private medical decisions over and over again.

“Requiring unfair and discriminatory barriers to getting healthcare is wrong. Senate Bill 306 is nothing more than an attempt to turn back the clock a hundred years to a time where women were treated unequally and as second class citizens.

“This session saw attacks on the middle class, consumers, education, health care, the environment and, once again, women. I am saddened that my final legislative session ended with the Legislature rolling back Wisconsin’s Equal Pay for Equal Work law, a woman’s right to choose and educating our kids with medically accurate sex education.

“Equality isn’t something given freely. We have to continue to fight each and every day to make sure that all people are treated fairly. I have always fought for equality, and I always will.”

As a husband and a (step)father, I’m disgusted at the war Republicans in Wisconsin are waging against women and their rights. What Republicans in the legislature have been doing when it comes to the rights of women isn’t progress; it’s regression.

Instead of moving Wisconsin “Forward,” Republicans in the legislature have made it clear they want to move our state backwards…as in back to the 1950’s.