Scott Walker Tool Kit: Fighting Talking Points With Facts - WAR ON WOMEN

Scott Walker and his Republican Party have shown with their extreme, far-right agenda that they do not value Wisconsin women as equal partners.

From the attack on women’s access to reproductive health care and contraception to the gutting of the Pay Equity Enforcement Act, Scott Walker’s policies not only treat women like second-class citizens, but also take away the most fundamental rights and choices women need to fully participate in our society and make critical decisions about their lives.

Scott Walker Repealed Pay Equity Protections for Women

In an act of cowardice, Scott Walker signed, under cover of darkness, a full slate of anti-woman, anti-family legislation. Walker's bills repeal requirements that school sex education programs are medically accurate and science -based, interferes in the relationship between women and their doctors, prevents insurance coverage for abortion even in cases of rape, incest or if a woman's life is in danger, and strips pay equity protections for women, veterans, seniors and disabled workers.

In defending Walker's decision to repeal pay equity protections, Republican state Senator Grothman stated that it is OK for women to get paid less because, "money is more important for men."

Scott Walker's Dangerous Budget Harmed Women, Children and Families

Scott Walker's dangerous and ideologically-driven budget does not protect Wisconsin families and does not represent Wisconsin values.

The Walker budget:

• Eliminates all state funding for Planned Parenthood health centers in Wisconsin.
• Eliminates access to lifesaving cancer screenings, HIV testing, birth control, and annual exams for tens of thousands of Wisconsin patients.
• Puts the entire BadgerCare Family Planning program, its 60,000 patients, and $140 million annual savings to our state at risk.

Scott Walker Puts Women's Healthcare at Risk

Scott Walker supports radical “personhood” legislation that was too extreme for Mississippi. This legislation would amend our Wisconsin constitution to ban common forms of birth control and fertility treatment, and to outlaw abortion across the board -- even in cases of rape and incest, or if a woman's life is in danger.

Scott Walker has vowed to repeal Obamacare. Obamacare makes it illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against women, requires insurance companies to cover children with pre-existing conditions and requires private insurance to offer preventative care without the financial burden of co-pays and deductibles.

Scott Walker and His Friends' Offensive, Anti-Woman Rhetoric

Foster Friess, a $104,600 donor to Scott Walker, stated on national television that women who can't afford birth control should just put a Bayer aspirin between their knees.

The never-married Glenn Grothman has proposed legislation that declares single parenthood child abuse.

Walker supporter Don Pridemore has stated that women should remain in violent, abusive relationships rather than separate from their abusing partners.

Even Republican women are in on the war on women. Rebecca Kleefisch has stated that she agreed with the ridiculously out-of-bounds Tea Party statement that "child victims of rape and incest should view their resulting pregnancies as an opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade."

Recently, Kleefisch used vulgar and demeaning language to describe Kathleen Falk, perpetuating the sexist rhetoric that has historically subjected women, while ignoring the harm Scott Walker’s policies have done to women.

Scott Walker Repealed the Healthy Youth Act

Scott Walker repealed the Healthy Youth Act, which required that Wisconsin public schools teach sex education that is comprehensive, age-appropriate and medically and scientifically accurate. The Healthy Youth Act gave teens the tools they need to stay healthy now and in the future.

Scott Walker's Anti-Woman Record as a Legislator

During his career in the Wisconsin Legislature, Scott Walker sponsored and voted for some of the most extreme anti-women's health policies, including:

• Allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill women's birth control prescriptions (2001 AB 168)
• Eliminating prevention based family planning services for low income women (2001 AB 831)
• Allowing doctors to withhold medical information and refuse to provide routing prenatal tests to women (2001 AB 360; 1999 AB 535; 1997 AB 538)
• Denying women insurance coverage of birth control (2001 AR 55)
• Allowing insurance companies to deny women coverage for basic health care like maternity care, mammograms, and cervical cancer screenings (1999 AA15-AA2-ASA1 AB 133)