To: Rebecca Kleefisch, Lt. Governor, Governor Tony Evers, and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (WI-2)
Wisconsin Republicans: End Your War on Women
I recently read about your comments at the Americans for Prosperity event in Milwaukee last weekend where you stated that women who can’t afford contraceptive coverage could just, “Google it.”
Per your suggestion, I Googled “what if I can't afford birth control?”
Unfortunately, my search results did not yield contraceptive coverage.
Many of the search results referred me to Planned Parenthood for assistance, which, as you know, has been defunded in Wisconsin by your colleague Scott Walker and his Republican Legislature, and which you support defunding nationally.
Another search result referred me to look into the Wisconsin Family Planning Waiver, but alas, it was outdated, as Scott Walker and his friends have since eliminated that as well.
My next option is to switch health insurance providers. This is of course expensive, impractical and comes with no guarantee of coverage now or in the future – especially if you and your Tea Party colleagues are ever successful in your attempts to allow employers and insurance companies to refuse to cover contraceptive coverage.
I followed your process to a tee: I’m right here in Wisconsin and I Googled, “what if I can’t afford birth control?” but I didn’t get the same results.
Please provide the results of your search so I can find out where to get affordable contraceptive coverage.
Sincerely,
The people of Wisconsin
P.S. – If you have any other suggestions for families who wish to limit the number of children they have, please include those as well. It might also be helpful for you to pass this message along to your Republican colleagues like Scott Walker, Rebecca Kleefisch, Jeff Fitzgerald and Scott Fitzgerald, who, like you, have been able to successfully plan their families to have just two or three children. Their perspectives on family planning without affordable contraceptive coverage would also be useful.
Why is this important?
While speaking at a Tea Party rally in Milwaukee, far-right Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson stated that women who can't afford contraceptive coverage should just "Google It."
Unfortunately, Ron Johnson's view that women who can't afford birth control should just "Google it" is just the latest attack in the GOP war on Wisconsin women:
Scott Walker is on record as stating his support for amending our Wisconsin constitution to ban common forms of birth control and outlaw abortion across the board -- even in cases of rape and incest, or if a woman's life is in danger.
Rebecca Kleefisch posted on Facebook that she agreed with the statement that "child victims of rape and incest should view their resulting pregnancies as an opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade."
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."
Right-wing members of the Republican Party are waging a war on women in Wisconsin and all across the country. By signing our letter to Senator Ron Johnson, you'll help us turn the tide and send a clear message to Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch: Women are fired up to elect new leaders who will stand up for families and access to affordable, quality health care and family planning options.