Press Room

Contact: Peggy Hamill, State Director
Mary Matuska, Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs
(262) 796-1111, (414) 416-0489 or info@prolifewisconsin.org

Pro-Life Wisconsin asks ACLU:
What about our liberty to exercise our conscience?

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Wednesday filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Equal Rights Division on behalf of a Marathon County employee who alleged discrimination over lack of birth control coverage under the county’s employee insurance plan. The ACLU’s claim is based, in part, on an informal, non-binding legal opinion offered by Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager that current federal and state law could require so-called contraceptive equity.

“Forcing Wisconsin employers to provide comprehensive birth control coverage is certainly not a new idea,” stated Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin. “After repeated legislative attempts to pass such a mandate, advocates have decided to do an end run around the Legislature, going straight to the courts to attempt to get their way.”

The ACLU wants to force millions of Americans who oppose abortion and know human life begins at the moment of fertilization to pay through their insurance premiums for the elective actions of others. “What about our liberty? What about our consciences?,” stated Mary Matuska, Pro-Life Wisconsin’s deputy director of legislative affairs. “And what about those health insurers who have religious or ethical objections to the offering of drugs that are abortifacient in nature?” Continued Matuska, “Isn’t it ironic that the same folks who argue so strongly against government intrusion in our private lives are paving the way for this obnoxious mandate?”

Many of these so-called contraceptives do not prevent conception. Instead, they can act to cause early abortions by preventing implantation of the newly conceived human being. Many of these drugs and devices come with serious, sometimes deadly, side effects.

“Practically speaking, compounding skyrocketing health insurance premiums by mandating birth control coverage is economically foolish,” added Hamill. “Forced to cover such expenses, companies likely would respond by downsizing or eliminating healthcare coverage altogether. Hopefully, no Wisconsin court will share the ACLU’s opinion. That would certainly be in the best interest of the conscience and economy of our state.”

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