FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 7, 2019
CONTACT: William Parke-Sutherland, Health Policy Engagement Coordinator, Kids Forward
wparkesutherland@kidsforward.net, 608-284-0580 x317
The following statement from Ken Taylor, Kids Forward’s executive director, is in response to legislative efforts to curtail women’s access to abortion in Wisconsin:
Kids Forward advocates for effective, long-lasting solutions that break down barriers to success for children and families in Wisconsin. Using research and a community-informed approach, Kids Forward works to help every kid, every family, and every community thrive. Kids and families need comprehensive health coverage to get and stay healthy.
To that end, we’re voicing our opposition to the slate of bills that restrict women’s access to reproductive health care. Last month Republican legislators introduced four bills aimed at eroding a woman’s right to access an abortion in Wisconsin. Women should be able to make the health care decisions that are best for themselves and their families. Limiting the ability of women to control how and when they have children destabilizes families and threatens their health and financial well-being. These negative consequences go beyond the families directly impacted. When families are destabilized, it harms other families and communities across Wisconsin.
Legislators who truly want to prioritize the health of women, children, and families should support expanding access to health care, not restricting it. They should champion the Governor’s Healthy Women, Healthy Babies Initiative that extends postpartum eligibility for women on BadgerCare and takes steps toward addressing the shameful racial disparities between Black and White mothers and infants in this state.
They should fund the necessary health care investments in the Governor’s budget proposal. According to the latest poll released by Marquette University Law School, 70% of Wisconsinites support expanding BadgerCare for parents and adults who make up to 138% of the federal poverty level, which is about $17,000 per year for a single adult. We urge the state legislature to focus on investments in broadening health care coverage and legislation that empowers people to make the best health care decisions for themselves and their families.
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Kids Forward advocates for effective, long-lasting solutions that break down barriers to success for children and families in Wisconsin. Using research and a community-informed approach, Kids Forward works to help every kid, every family, and every community thrive.