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WCC Urges Legislators to Oppose Abortion Expansion
Yesterday, 15 Republican legislators held a press conference to announce a proposed expansion of abortion in Wisconsin.
The WCC is encouraging citizens to contact their state legislators to urge them to oppose LRB-2151, which would create an exception in Wisconsin’s statute permitting children conceived in rape and incest to be killed, and expand abortion access in cases of fetal abnormality or risk to the mother.
All human life is sacred, and every individual deserves the right to life regardless of how she or he was conceived. At the same time, and in every instance, sexual violence is a grave and detestable offense against human dignity. This legislation does not heal the trauma of rape and incest. Instead, abortion compounds violence upon violence and eliminates the most vulnerable party for the crimes of another. What survivors of sexual violence deserve is appropriate care to heal and have their perpetrators brought to justice.
Further, intentionally killing an unborn child is never medically necessary to save the life of a mother. Catholic hospitals have led the way in caring for women and children in very complicated cases and know how to care for both. Sometimes a medical procedure that saves a mother’s life has the unintended consequence of leading to a birth in which the child does not survive. This is permissible because every effort is still made to save the child’s life, even though the child’s death may be an unintended consequence of the intervention.
The bill also legalizes abortion in any circumstance in which the fetus has no chance of survival. This language is unduly vague and will lead to the destruction of children with fetal abnormalities. When the death of a newborn is imminent, perinatal hospice and palliative care provide families with a nonviolent way to care for their child and grieve a premature death.
After the press conference, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu issued a statement saying that LRB-2151 would not be considered on the Senate Floor. Governor Evers also tweeted that he would not sign a bill that does not repeal the ban on abortion altogether. Although the Senate does not plan to advance the bill, your representatives still need to hear from you!
The bills’ authors will now circulate co-sponsorship memos to all legislators until March 29, after which the two bills will be referred to committees.
Please take action in the next week, ahead of the bills’ introduction. Contact your State Senator and Representative with the following message:
- I urge you to oppose LRB-2151 and to take the lead on protecting the life and health of both women and their children in Wisconsin.
- Abortion is not necessary to care for women in complex pregnancies. Doctors can care for both without killing a child.
- Abortion is not the solution to the horrific crime of rape and incest. There is no other area of the law where we say it is lawful to destroy the most vulnerable party for the crimes of another.
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Protecting the life and health of women and children should include the expansion of postpartum care, reducing costs for birth, removal of sales tax on feminine hygiene products and diapers, funding for pregnancy resource centers, adoption tax credits, affordable housing, child care, transportation access, and more. If Wisconsin is to be a place where women and children can flourish, these are the kinds of policies that build a culture of life.
- Thank you for your service and for protecting the most vulnerable in Wisconsin.
To contact your representatives, visit the Wisconsin State Legislature website and click on Find My Legislators for their phone number or email address. You can also call the State Legislative Hotline at 1-800-362-9472.
Questions? Read the WCC’s full press release here or contact us at 608-257-0004 or office@wisconsincatholic.org.
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