The Wisconsin state Senate appears to be in for a long day of debate when a pair of abortion-related bills get to the floor next week. Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) promised “all out hell” when the measures were approved by partisan votes in committee on Thursday.
One bill would ban so called “sex selection” procedures. “It’s just absolutely ridiculous, I don’t know why it’s there,” said Erpenbach. There’s no evidence such abortions have been performed in Wisconsin.
A second measure would prohibit public employee health insurance plans from covering abortions. It also provides and exemption for religious organizations from providing insurance coverage for birth control, a provision that was added to the bill when it passed the Assembly. “If an employer has a religious or moral objection to using birth control to deny pregnancy, the employer can say to the employee “we are not going to provide birth control,” which is absolutely unbelievable,” Erpnbach said.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved the bills on 3-2 votes Thursday.
