Senate Committee Considers Dangerous Patient Abandonment Bill
Madison, WI – Despite overwhelming citizen opposition, a bill which puts providers’ personal beliefs above patients’ health care needs is being heard today in the Senate Committee on Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long Term Care. Although 87 percent of those who registered at the bill’s Assembly hearing were opposed to it, the Republican-controlled Assembly passed the bill along party lines.
The Patient Abandonment Bill (AB 207) would permit doctors and pharmacists to withhold contraceptives or live-saving treatments for blood pressure, cancer, and other diseases. Providers could refuse to recommend or refer a pregnant woman for an abortion, even if she would die without it. They could deny patients fertility counseling and withhold emergency contraception from rape victims. The bill would legalize unethical conduct, and leave injured patients with no recourse.
“Legislators should work on common-sense solutions to increase access to birth control – not limit it,” said Kelda Helen Roys, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. “The Patient Abandonment Bill disregards patients’ rights to privacy and ethical medical treatment. Republican legislators should focus less on eviscerating medical ethics and privacy, and more on solving Wisconsin’s public health crises, such as the high infant mortality rate for women of color and the teen birth rate.”
Under current law, doctors can refuse to perform certain procedures if they disagree with the patient’s decision. They nevertheless have an ethical obligation to provide accurate, comprehensive information about treatment options and refer the patient to another provider. No professional medical organization in the state supports this bill; over 20 health and social service organizations oppose it. The only organization supporting it is the anti-birth control group which drafted the bill.
NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin is the political arm of the pro-choice movement, building a culture of freedom and personal responsibility. Our political advocacy ensures women the full range of reproductive health care services, including preventing unintended pregnancies, bearing healthy children, and choosing safe, legal abortion. More information is available on NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin’s website, www.prochoicewisconsin.org.
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