State Assembly Rep. Chuck Wichgers, R-Muskego, is taking heat for an invitation he sent Monday to colleagues for an upcoming event at the Capitol facilitated by radical anti-abortion group Abolish Abortion Wisconsin.
The organization has consistently urged the state Legislature to create and approve a bill criminalizing abortion and imposing strict punishment for women who choose to terminate a pregnancy. The group proposes to charge violators with murder, which upon conviction, would constitute the death penalty in some states.
Joanna Beilman-Dulin, One Wisconsin Now research director, condemned Wichgers’ endorsement of the AAW sponsored event.
“He’s promoting what is really a hate group that advocates for violence against women,” Beilman-Dulin said. “This group suggests executing women. I would imagine that there are a lot of people who are also horrified by it.”
Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, echoed Beilman-Dulin’s sentiments. As an advocate for women’s reproductive rights and co-author of recent pro-choice Assembly Bill 656, Taylor said she was shocked and disgusted at Wichgers’ promotion of a group she regards as a terrorist organization.
Taylor said AAW’s presence at the Capitol would create a hostile environment, especially because Matt Trewhella, a Christian pastor associated with the group, was under FBI investigation in the past for conspiring to commit acts of violence against abortion providers.
“No legislature should be facilitating this,” Taylor said. “It’s a slap in the face to every single woman in Wisconsin.”
Proposed legislation would ban UW employees from training at abortion facilities
According to AAW’s website, the group touts a pro-life goal of protecting the unborn under the “guise of the Gospel of God.” The organization has even gone so far as to urge legislators to ignore Roe v. Wade and instead fulfill their “duty” of criminalizing abortion.
In a Thursday afternoon press release, Taylor publicly expressed outrage towards Republican lawmakers who will facilitate the event and allow AAW to set foot in the Capitol.
Because of the organization’s implicit promotion of violence and denouncement of the legal right to choose, Taylor said she plans to write a letter calling on Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, to cancel Wednesday’s event.
“It is amazing how many Republican men seem to spend every waking minute thinking about how they’re going to limit women’s access to healthcare,” Taylor said. “We are tired of it, and we are not going to take it anymore.”
AAW’s presentation is currently set to occur Feb. 7 at 1:30 p.m. in room 415 of the Capitol.
