Rep. Jonathan Brostoff
Press Release

Representative Brostoff Recognizes the 43rd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade: Celebrating Women’s Rights

Unfortunately, Wisconsin has seen a non-stop attack on women’s health and the right to privacy for several years now.

By - Jan 22nd, 2016 07:17 pm

MILWAUKEE— Representative Jonathan Brostoff (D- Milwaukee) celebrates the historic milestone, Roe v. Wade, on its 43rd anniversary.

“Today marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade- a pivotal case that removed the government from private medical decisions regarding women’s reproductive rights.

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that regulating or outlawing first trimester abortions was a violation of privacy guaranteed by the First, Fourth, Ninth and 14th Amendments.

Unfortunately, Wisconsin has seen a non-stop attack on women’s health and the right to privacy for several years now. As a result, we have seen an 11% decline in women’s healthcare providers since 2008. In 2011, 96% of Wisconsin counties had no clinic where women could access all reproductive care options.

Soon we will see before the Assembly a bill that would ban fetal tissue donation services. The people pushing this bill market it as saving babies from being sold, but sale of tissue is already banned through federal laws and there is no evidence of sales happening.

Fetal tissue, acquired from donations, has been used in studies since the 1930s when it helped develop the first poliovirus vaccines. These are estimated to save 550,000 lives worldwide every year. Many other vaccines, such as those for chicken pox, rubella, and shingles, were also produced using tissue derived from fetuses including two that were electively terminated in the 1960s.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison alone currently has fetal tissue research active in 100 labs across campus for studies on cancer, heart disease, Parkinson’s, blindness, diabetes and more.

So today as we recognize and celebrate Roe v. Wade and the hard earned right for women to access comprehensive healthcare, we must also continue the fight.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Mentioned in This Press Release

Comments

  1. AG says:

    Brostoff says, “…there is no evidence of sales happening…”

    Have people really convinced themselves there is no evidence? Even when it’s right in front of them?

  2. Vincent Hanna says:

    @AG, headline from late September: “No State Has Found Proof of Fetal Tissue Sales.” http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/09/state-has-found-proof-of-fetal-tissue-sales.html#

    Has that changed since late September?

  3. AG says:

    Vincent, nothing has changed as long as you call it “donating tissue” instead of “selling tissue” and you consider the price paid simply a “fee” and not a cost of purchasing the fetus or tissue. Unborn child (or parts of him/her) given – money received. It seems semantics after that.

  4. Vincent Hanna says:

    OK so the answer then is no. Not that you rabid anti-choice folks care. But hey this is good news!

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/01/25/creator-of-anti-planned-parenthood-videos-faces-felony-charge/

  5. AG says:

    Yes, isn’t it interesting that they are charging one side of a discussion for trying to buy baby parts but the people on the other side of the same conversation aren’t being charged with discussing selling them? How can it be buying on one side but not selling on the other when they’re talking about the same thing? This is politics at play.

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