Mary Burke and Gov. Scott Walker seem to have locked horns in the struggle to win over Wisconsin’s women, pulling issues such as access to certain types of health care, equal pay and community safety into the limelight.

According to League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Executive Director Andrea Kaminski, all of these points are topics women should be paying attention to in this election.

First Lady Michelle Obama’s Madison visit Tuesday, and recent work with the Mary Burke campaign, has highlighted the importance of the female vote for both gubernatorial candidates, underlining the fact that women’s issues could be a determining factor in the election’s outcome. Kaminski agreed.

“[In this election] women are candidates and they are working for candidates, and they are voters,” Kaminski said. “There are many issues in this election that are important to women and that women should be looking at that as voters.”

Kaminski said that in many families, women are the ones who negotiate the health care system, and issues of health and health services have become crucial in this campaign.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s Public Policy Director Nicole Safar said the differences between Burke and Walker’s stances toward women’s access to health care “could not be starker.” The changes she’s seen since Walker has come to office have been noteworthy.

“Basic access to birth control and STD testing has long been supported by people on both sides of the aisle, until Gov. Walker came into power, and then everything changed,” Safar said. “Since his administration, things like birth control and sex education have become political issues.”

A recent campaign advertisement from the Walker camp, however, Walker said he “supports legislation to increase safety and provide more information for a woman considering her options.” This is one of many Walker campaign advertisements bringing light to his policies involving women, including one which features support from a woman who was the victim of domestic violence.

However, Safar said the complete cut of state money to Planned Parenthood in Walker’s first budget as governor had a huge impact. Because of these cuts, Planned Parenthood has had to close five clinics throughout Wisconsin in the last two years.

“In a state that is as rural as Wisconsin, when one local health center shuts down, it has a broad impact,” Safar said.

Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, said Walker’s policies involving women’s issues were extreme, calling his record both “abysmal” and “appalling”.

“He has been treating women like second-class citizens, from trying to shut down every health center in the state which performs abortion, to passing one of the most offensive lines he’s ever passed, which was mandatory vaginal ultrasound,” Taylor said.

According to a recent poll by Marquette Law, the gender gap is large. Among likely voters, 64 percent of men say they’re for Walker and only 34 percent are for Burke. Women on the other hand lean towards Burke with 54 percent saying they’ll vote for her, and only 40 percent reporting they are for Walker.

Walker’s campaign office and Rep. Andre Jacque, District 2, did not respond for comment.