The Assembly passed a bill prohibiting the coverage of abortion under the federal healthcare law in Wisconsin following heated debate Tuesday.
Bolstered by a Planned Parenthood-sponsored rally that drew hundreds Tuesday morning, many democratic representatives wore pink shirts as they argued fiercely against a Republican-backed bill they said infringed on private healthcare decisions.
Republicans strongly defended their bill, which they said prevents taxpayer dollars from funding abortions through President Obama’s federal healthcare law, or “Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act.”
“Do the people of Wisconsin approve of the possibility of their tax dollars being used to kill babies?” asked Rep. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, adding he wished the bill went further and fully banned abortion.
Democrats countered that the bill oversteps Republicans’ policy of minimum government intervention.
“Don’t impose your own personal beliefs on me and my family,” said Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison.
Taylor argued not having insurance when a woman feels she must seek an abortion “can make or break a family financially.” She also proposed amendments to mandate, rather than simply allow, insurance providers to cover abortions in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life would be endangered by continuing her pregnancy.
“I can’t understand this impulse… to control women’s bodies, to control women’s lives,” said Rep. Kelda Roys, D-Madison. “This bill will endanger the health and the autonomy of women… for the most base of political reasons.”
Although Democrats, including Roys, disparaged the bill as an extension of the “national war on women,” self-identified pro-life legislator Rep. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, disagreed, calling for civil discourse between the two sides.
“It’s not a war,” Ballweg said. “It’s what we believe whole-heartedly.”
