For Immediate Release:

January 22, 2008


Media Contact: Andrea Gage
414-213-3717 (cell)

 

The Time for Change is Now
Women’s Health and Safety Act Launched

Madison, WI- With anti-health care lawmakers and special interest groups working every day to make abortion illegal in Wisconsin and nationwide, champions of women’s health and safety are marking the 35th Roe anniversary with a call to repeal Wisconsin’s antiquated criminal abortion statute.

 

Sen. Mark Miller (D-Monona) and Rep. Terese Berceau (D-Madison) introduced Senate Bill 398, the Women’s Health and Safety Act, today at the State Capitol to remove the 158-year-old criminal abortion statute (Wis. Stat. Sec. 940.04) from the Wisconsin books. The criminal abortion statute outlaws abortion and provides criminal penalties for women and physicians that would be enforced immediately if Roe v. Wade were to be reversed — a very real threat given the current composition of the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

“Everyone should support getting this statute off the books. We should never go back to the time when women died of infection and hemorrhaging because they couldn’t obtain a legal, safe abortion," said Rep. Berceau.

 

If the criminal abortion statute is not taken off the books, rape and incest victims could end up behind bars for choosing to terminate a pregnancy that resulted from an assault.

 

“It is unimaginable to think that a rape victim who chose to have an abortion after being brutally attacked could be thrown in jail under our current statute,” said Linda, a rape survivor who spoke at a news conference this morning.  “These women are your mothers, your sisters, your daughters. Your friends. They are not, and should not, be treated as criminals.”

 

“To the individuals who are working to criminalize abortion in Wisconsin, I ask, how much time should she do? How much would you punish our mothers, sisters and daughters?” asked Berceau.

 

To learn more about the Women’s Health and Safety Act, visit www.ppawi.org/legislation.

                                                                                               

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Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin is the advocacy arm of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin (PPWI). The mission of PPWI is to empower all individuals to manage their sexual and reproductive health through direct services, education, and advocacy.  www.ppawi.org