Wisconsin NOW members and friends,
With a solidly conservative US Supreme Court and seven years of women’s rights, reproductive care, and civil protections eviscerated, it is absolutely critical that everyone get to the polls for the candidates that share our values.
The Wisconsin chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is pleased to endorse:
- Tony Evers for Governor and Mandela Barnes for Lieutenant Governor
- Josh Kaul for Attorney General
Endorsed by National NOW:
- Tammy Baldwin for US Senate
- Gwen Moore for US House of Representatives, District 1
- Mark Pocan for US House of Representatives, District 2
With so much at stake this election, we’re asking our members and allies to please spend some time volunteering to get out the vote. Just an hour of your time makes a big difference!
Here are some opportunities to help Get Out the Vote:
- Phone bank for Evers, provided by Citizen Action of Wisconsin
- Sign up to canvass or phone bank for Evers, Kaul and Baldwin with the Human Rights Campaign
- Sign up to help Tammy Baldwin’s campaign via the Coordinated Campaign
- Join the Women for Tammy Team
- Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health has a great tool called VoterCircle! As described by WAWH:
- “This new service makes it simple to engage with women you know and equip them with the tools and information they need to make their vote matter. Because when women vote – Wisconsin wins, join in the fun and sign up to use VoterCircle today! You can also download the VoterCircle app using the code wvw304.”
What you need to know about the midterm elections
On the US Senate race:
US Senator Tammy Baldwin is a tireless leader for NOW’s core issues and a true fighter for women’s rights. Her time in congress has been distinguished by her advocacy for reproductive rights, pay equity, LGBTQ equality, and access to affordable healthcare. She introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act, which protects one’s ability to access safe, legal abortion care.
Her opponent, Leah Vukmir, on the other hand:
- Supports a complete ban on abortion, with no exceptions.
- Opposed giving rape victims access to emergency contraception in hospitals.
- Supported banning the University of Wisconsin’s OB-GYN training program from including how to perform abortions, which would have likely resulted in the program losing its certification, exacerbating the state’s shortage of OB-GYNs.
- Supports allowing for junk insurance plans. According to the AARP, this will allow insurance companies to “deny coverage to people with preexisting conditions” and “impose an age tax, charging older Americans much higher premiums” that would not cover essential health needs, emergency care, etc.
Sources:
- https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/elections/races/wisconsin
- https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/09/04/senate-race-tammy-baldwin-leah-vukmir-clash-health-care/1157442002/
On the gubernatorial race:
Women’s rights have been under constant assault, and it’s more important than ever before to elect a governor who shares our values. Superintendent Tony Evers has been a tireless ally in fighting discrimination and standing up for vulnerable communities throughout his career in education. Tony Evers and Mandela Barnes believe health decisions must be left to patients instead of politicians, and understand the importance of affordable healthcare, including affordable care for those with pre-existing conditions, and the need for greater access to reproductive care. They are proven advocates who support equal pay protections, LGBTQIA+ rights, racial and economic justice.
This race is extremely crucial because no governor in Wisconsin history has eviscerated women’s rights like Scott Walker has. Walker has successfully advanced an anti-choice and anti-woman agenda while making healthcare inaccessible. A few notable Walker Worsts:
- Spending nearly $4,000 of taxpayer money on a private flight to attend the opening ceremony of one of Wisconsin’s 80 crisis pregnancy centers, which posture as real clinics while administering no actual healthcare and distributing medically inaccurate information, utilizing fear and shame tactics against people seeking abortions.
- Signing into law a pair of bills that cut federal funding for patients receiving non-abortion care at these clinics, resulting in five clinics in rural communities being shuttered. This one act has caused countless Wisconsinites to go without needed healthcare.
- Inserting himself into the doctor-patient relationship by signing into law:
- Mandatory and often medically unnecessary and unwanted ultrasounds before one can have an abortion;
- State-required anti-choice counseling twenty-four hours before an abortion can be obtained. This means the patient must make two trips to the clinic.
- A ban on abortions after 20 weeks, even when the pregnant person’s health is at risk.
- Repealing the Healthy Youth Act which required schools to provide medically accurate sex education.
Repealing Wisconsin’s law against gender-based pay discrimination, even though Wisconsin women continue to make just 78 cents on the dollar compared to Wisconsin men.
On the Attorney General race:
Wisconsin needs an Attorney General who will stand up for women and families. Josh Kaul will protect the rights of sexual assault survivors. He understands the importance of access to affordable healthcare coverage, including reproductive care. He has fought unjust and discriminatory voter suppression laws here in Wisconsin. We need an Attorney General with Kaul’s commitment to justice and fairness for all Wisconsinites.
His opponent, incumbent Attorney General Brad Schimel, supports keeping the state’s criminal abortion ban on the books in spite of it being unconstitutional. Kaul has said he thinks the legislature should repeal the law.
Additionally, Brad Schimel has:
- Ignored Wisconsin’s backlog of rape kits for years. It wasn’t until he realized it would be a problem for reelection that he finally tested the kits.
- Supported anti-LGBT litigation and opposed legal protections for people in the LGBT community.
- Attended and sent staff in official capacity to a “religious liberty” conference put on by an anti-gay hate group.
- In 2014, said he would not defend Wisconsin’s domestic partnership law.
- In 2016, signed Wisconsin on to a lawsuit against the Obama administration over federal guidelines that directed schools to allow transgender students to use facilities corresponding with their gender identity.
- In 2017, Schimel was flown out to speak at a secret conference which was sponsored by anti-LGBT hate group, Alliance Defending Freedom. Schimel also sent DOJ staff to the ADF conference in an official capacity at a cost of $1,000.