The president of a national pro-choice group spoke at the state capitol Thursday to condemn the nomination of John Roberts for the Supreme Court. She also criticized attempts by Wisconsin lawmakers to limit access to birth control.
Accusing Roberts of not respecting women's right to privacy, Nancy Keenan, NARAL Pro-Choice America president, called on the White House to release documents from Roberts' time in the Reagan and Bush administrations saying it would shed light on Roberts' views on abortion. She implored President Bush to nominate a moderate to the second vacant seat on the court saying that the country needed a nominee both sides could agree on.
Keenan highlighted the fact that the chief justice of the land's highest court can have a large influence on its direction and said that Roberts was a poor choice because he does not respect the right to privacy and would work to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
But pro-life groups countered, saying that overturning the decision would be a good thing for the country.
Matt Sande, director of legislative affairs for Pro-Life Wisconsin said his group is supporting Roberts. He added, \the end result of the right to privacy has been the death of 45 million babies since Roe v. Wade has been enacted.""
Keenan and Kelda Helen Roys, executive director of NARAL Wisconsin also criticized a bill by state Rep. Daniel LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, that would prohibit University Health Services from giving out the morning-after pill.
Roys called birth control ""basic health care for women"" and called LeMahieu's bill part of a larger attack on women's rights.
She said the bill was ""unconstitutionally broad' and that it could have the effect of banning not only the morning-after pill but also other forms of contraception.
Sande said the bill was worded to specifically disallow only the morning-after pill and that if passed it could have other benefits. He said that if women have easy access to the morning-after pill they might be less likely to seek medical attention after a sexual assault.
LeMahieu's bill passed the state assembly in June and will go to the Senate's committee on Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long Term Care. Gov. Jim Doyle has said he will veto the bill if it reaches his desk.
