Republicans put ideology before the lives of women yet again
Statement from Sen. Larson on GOP’s Abortion Ban
Madison, WI – Today, Senator Larson released the following statement on the Republicans move to ban abortions and once again attack a woman’s right to make her own choices.
“Today we saw yet another attack on a woman’s rights to make deeply personal decisions regarding her health care.
“Under this Republican bill, a woman experiencing serious health complications or severe fetal abnormalities would have no opportunity to make her own personal, private health care decisions. Furthermore, Republicans actually have the audacity to ban victims of rape and incest from having a choice to decide what is best for themselves. What’s worse, is that Republicans are taking an “eye for an eye” approach by valuing an unborn fetus over the life of the mother by making it so doctors would face prison time for providing abortion care to women – even if it were to preserve the life of the mother.
“Not every pregnancy ends in a baby. Some pregnancies go tragically wrong and can create serious health complications that threaten health, life or the viability of the pregnancy. Women deserve the freedom to decide what is best for her family. No politician should come between a woman, her doctor, her family, and her faith. That is not our job and Republicans should be ashamed of the lack of empathy their actions today shows to the families in Wisconsin that have had to make these incredibly tough decisions.
“Republicans, once again, are simply choosing to ignore reality. At the public hearing for the bill, leading medical groups unanimously voiced their strong opposition, noting that this bill is not based on sound science. We know that nearly 99% of abortions in Wisconsin and the U.S. occur before 20 weeks gestation. In 2013, less than 100 abortions in Wisconsin occurred after 20 weeks. We know that these involve rare, severe fetal abnormalities and serious risks to the woman’s health, which are typically not discovered until the 20 week ultrasound.
“We heard countless stories from women and families who had to make these terribly hard decisions about wanted pregnancies at the public hearing for this bill. We heard from a family who found out at the 20 week ultrasound that their daughter had no brain function and would likely not survive labor or delivery. The family decided to end the pregnancy and induced labor at 22 weeks because they believed that to be the most loving and humane thing they could do for their daughter.
“Republicans heard the same heart breaking stories, yet chose to listen to their political allies who provide them with anecdotal and medically inaccurate information, which they use as gospel to justify passing this regressive-era legislation that takes Wisconsin backwards to the 1960s. Instead, we should trust women and move our state forward.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by State Sen. Chris Larson
