"We are extremely disappointed that Sen. Vinehout has turned her back on the women of this state, aligning herself instead with extremist special interest groups that oppose all birth control," said Kelda Helen Roys, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. "Voters should be able to trust the promises our political leaders make - unfortunately, those who voted for Sen. Vinehout based on her stated platform as a pro-choice, pro-birth control, women's health advocate no longer can."

As a candidate, Vinehout painted herself as a health care reformer who would fight to increase access to health care for all, including reproductive health care for women. Her reversal on the issue of whether pharmacists can withhold birth control from women on personal ideological grounds, then, is stunning - particularly because of overwhelming public support for legislation to stop this practice. Not only would her proposal weaken patient protections in existing law, it is worse than many of the so-call "conscience clauses" that NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin helped to defeat in recent legislative sessions.

In seeking an endorsement, Vinehout answered NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin PAC's questionnaire, specifically addressing the growing problem of pharmacy refusals:

"I feel betrayed," said UW-Eau Claire student activist Alison Harder. "I supported Kathleen Vinehout because she said she would stand up for women's health, for birth control and reproductive rights. Was she just saying that to get elected, or did she just suddenly decide now that pharmacists should get to put their beliefs before our needs as patients?"

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, the political leader of the pro-choice movement, has an active campus group in the heart of Sen. Vinehout's district. The organization has begun mobilizing its members to express their disappointment over Vinehout's broken pledge.

The Birth Control Protection Act (SB 232) clarifies Wisconsin's muddled abortion laws and ensures that FDA-approved contraceptives cannot be regulated as abortion. It also ensures that women are not wrongfully denied access to birth control at the pharmacy counter due to a pharmacist's personal opposition to contraception. NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin strongly supports this bill, and opposes Vinehout's amendments:

Amendment 1 removes language clarifying the definition of abortion in Wisconsin, leaving the door open for future attempts to restrict access to contraception by regulating it as abortion.

Amendment 2 allows pharmacists and institutions with pharmacies to refuse to dispense valid birth control prescriptions to women based on the individual's or institution's moral or religious beliefs, so long as the pharmacist ensures that the patient has access to contraception "elsewhere."