So. This one is harder. Emotions run high.
Efforts to address emotions running high bring out other emotions. Good people say things that get misconstrued. Bad people say things to make themselves sound like heroes not villains.
The whole thing can be confusing, what with all the gaslighting.
Here's what we want to say: Pregnancy is dangerous for women. The gender wage gap make existing as a woman in the Equality State economically precarious. The state has not expanded Medicaid--a simple and cost-effective (they give you money to do it!) way to make pregnancy less dangerous for women. The state has not adopted basic (free!) measures to promote wage transparency--the most effective tool in closing the gender wage gap.
Which is to say, the state is complicit in endangering women.
Collectively, the bills (listed below) advancing (with undue haste, we might add) serve to violate bedrock libertarian principles that we thought were central to Wyoming's values. We understood that this state believes that all competent adults should make their own decisions--even more specifically, his or her own *health care* decisions. We understood that the government would not infringe upon those decisions.
We liked it here because of those things.
WE PUT THOSE THINGS IN THE STATE CONSTITUTION, FFS.
Wyoming Constitution Article 1 Section 38. Right of health care access.
(a) Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions.
(d) The state of Wyoming shall act to preserve these rights from undue governmental infringement.
And, yet. Here we are.
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Here's the full list.
HB70 Abortion-informed consent.
Status: Referred to House Labor/Health on Monday 3/15 @ 7:30am
HB134 Human heartbeat protection act.
Status: Referred to House Labor/Health on Monday 3/15 @ 7:30am
HB161 Human life equality-prohibiting discriminatory abortions.
Status: Referred to House Labor/Health on Monday 3/15 @ 7:30am
HB253 University of Wyoming-ban on funding for abortions.
Status: Referred to House Labor/Health on Monday 3/15 @ 7:30am
SF34 Born alive infant means of care
Status: Passed Senate Committee, Senate 3rd Reading 26-4-0-0, Received for Introduction in the House
SF96 Homicide amendments
Status: Passed Senate Committee, Senate 3rd Reading 26-4-0-0, Introduced in the House, Referred to House Judiciary
SF133 Prohibiting abortifacients and chemical abortions.
Status: Passed Senate Committee, now on General File in the Senate
NOTE: This bill, as currently written, would make it illegal for physicians to treat women with early miscarriages thus making it impossible for women to get safe, vital, and potentially lifesaving health care within Wyoming's borders. It would make the prescribing and distributing of FDA approved medications illegal.
FAILED TO ADVANCE (procedural)
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We feel strongly that these bills need amendments to be pro-pregnancy, pro-maternal health, pro-pregnant worker protections, pro-access to care. If you wanted to reach out to ask members of the House Labor, Health & Social Services Committee to include pro-pregnancy, pro-maternal health, pro-pregnant worker protections, pro-access to care amendments in these bills, we'd invite you to do that today.
Here are some examples:
REDUCING MATERNAL MORTALITY
CONTRACEPTIVE COVERAGE
PREGNANT WORKER FAIRNESS
The information about how to contact legislators is on our site here and the legislature's site here and also in this post about how to contact your legislators to ask them to take action.
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