NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Applauds Wisconsin Legislators for Rejecting Abuse of Process
NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin applauds Wisconsin legislators today for rejecting a flagrant abuse of process by some of their colleagues. Assembly Bill 383 and Senate Bill 186, drafted by members of the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR), seek to exclude younger women, ages 15-17, from Wisconsin’s Family Planning Waiver program, a bipartisan initiative providing comprehensive reproductive health care to low income women ineligible for Medicaid and BadgerCare. However, Committee members demonstrated utter disregard for procedural rules by denying the public hearings on these measures, instead forcing them straight to the Assembly and Senate floors.
Today legislators stood up against this outrageous abuse of process, sending these measures back to committees in both the Assembly and Senate, ensuring an appropriate, public hearing on these measures on a future date. “NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin is thrilled that our legislators were unwilling to betray their constituents by rubberstamping this kind of abuse of process,” notes Courtney Emery, an organization spokesperson.
The Family Planning Waiver program, 90% funded by the federal government, currently provides comprehensive reproductive health care to low income women, ages 15-44, who would otherwise not have access to such care. This preventative health care preserves quality of life for tens of thousands of Wisconsin women by providing screenings for early detection of numerous cancers and providing women with the tools and knowledge necessary to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Additionally, this program saves Wisconsin taxpayers millions of dollars – after all, Medicaid pays for 85% of teen pregnancies in our state. Excluding younger women from the Family Planning Waiver program will jeopardize federal funding for the entire program. “In a time of fiscal crisis in our state, jeopardizing over $30 million dollars in federal aid over the next five years for such a compassionate and cost-effective program is terribly irresponsible,” adds Courtney Emery.
|
