Extreme Mark Green Votes Against Birth Control, Hospital Care for New Moms
Green is anti-choice, but he is far from pro-“life”
Madison, WI – Rep. Mark Green, Republican gubernatorial candidate, has spent his political career undermining women’s access to preventative health care, including birth control and postpartum care.
“Green’s desire to criminalize abortion is clear, but his record is far from pro-‘life,’” said NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin’s executive director Kelda Helen Roys. “Green votes lockstep with the Bush administration to undermine basic protections and preventative care for women and families. Green makes it harder for women to bear healthy children – just as he makes it harder for women to prevent unintended pregnancy and reduce the need for abortion.”
Green opposes a woman’s right to birth control, even though contraception greatly reduces the need for abortion by preventing unintended pregnancy, and spacing pregnancies by using birth control is proven to result in healthier babies and mothers.
• Co-authored bill to let pharmacists withhold birth control from patients (1997 AB 953)
• Voted to allow insurers deny birth control coverage, even when they pay for Viagra (1997 AB 693)
• Voted to withhold family planning funds from the world’s poorest women (2001-115)
• Repeatedly endorsed by groups that seek to criminalize birth control
Green opposes health care access and support for mothers and children.
• Voted to allow hospitals to refuse to treat poor patients, even pregnant women (2006-004)
• Voted to slash Medicaid funds for low-income familiy and child health care (2005-601)
• Blocked a vote to increase the minimum wage to $7.25/hour, even though Wisconsin’s single mothers and their families face high levels of poverty (2005-365)
• Voted to let insurance companies continue “drive through delivery” practice of kicking new mothers out of the hospital 12 hours after giving birth
Green would imprison women and doctors for having an abortion.
He co-authored several federal constitutional amendments to criminalize abortion, while refusing to sign on to abortion bans that make exceptions for rape and incest. (2001 HJ Res. 20; 2001 HJ Res. 10)
• Wants abortion criminalized under every circumstance – even when a woman’s health is threatened (2000-104)
• Green supports imprisoning women – even rape and incest victims – who seek abortion and doctors who care for them (2003-530)
• On April 8, 2006, the Wisconsin State Journal reported on Green’s “call to bring back Wisconsin's near-complete ban on abortions,” which, like South Dakota’s recently passed law, makes no exceptions for a woman’s health. Green woul also would criminalize abortion in cases of rape or incest, saying, that he is opposition to safe, legal abortion “regardless of the terrible circumstances” that caused the pregnancy.
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