Speaker Vos Moves to Kill Fetal Tissue Bills; Removes Them from Committee 

February 6, 2018

Without notice, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) has moved two fetal tissue bills out of their original committees and into the Committee on Assembly Organization. These bills make up the Heal Without Harm Legislative Initiative, (SB 423/AB 549 and SB 424/AB 550), authored by Sen. Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls) and Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc), that would ban the sale and use of body parts from aborted babies and inform parents about the ability to donate their miscarried or stillborn child’s tissue.

If Speaker Vos and the Committee on Assembly Organization do not advance the Heal Without Harm Legislative Initiative, then it can only be assumed that this move is intended to kill these bills. Assembly Health Committee Chair Rep. Joe Sanfelippo (R-New Berlin) had already held a hearing on AB 550 and intended to hold a committee vote to advance the bill. Assembly Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee Rep. John Spiros (R – Marshfield) still had sufficient time to hold a hearing and a committee vote on AB 549 as well. Now that AB 550 and AB 549 are pulled from those committees, the only individuals capable of ensuring that action is taken on these bills is the Committee on Assembly Organization, chaired by Speaker Vos, with Rep. Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna) as vice chair.

Right now, the Heal Without Harm Coalition is urging Wisconsinites to call the members of the Committee on Assembly Organization to ask why AB 550 and AB 549 were moved, and if any action is planned for these bills.

The Heal Without Harm Legislative Initiative is co-sponsored by nearly a third of the Wisconsin Legislature. All of the state’s major pro-life organizations, representing tens of thousands of pro-life voters, support this Initiative. By thwarting the Heal Without Harm legislation, Republican leaders are failing to listen and to act.

Wisconsin must be a place where no researcher will need to operate under the cloud of controversy that the trade of aborted fetal tissue creates, and no patient will ever face the decision of choosing life over conscience. This can only occur if Assembly leadership acts on the Heal Without Harm Legislative Initiative.

To learn more about the HWH Coalition and Initiative, visit healwithoutharm.org.

ACTION ALERT: CALL MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON ASSEMBLY ORGANIZATION!
The Heal Without Harm (HWH) Legislative Initiative – SB 423/AB 549 and SB 424/AB 550 (Sen. Terry Moulton, R-Chippewa Falls, and Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc) – would ban the sale and use of the body parts of aborted babies and instead encourage the donation of tissue for research from children who are stillborn or miscarried.

Without notice, AB 549 and AB 550 have been pulled from their previously assigned committees and put into the Committee on Assembly Organization.

The public has a right to know why these bills were moved and if the committee has any intention of sending them to the floor for a vote.

Please call the members of the Committee on Assembly Organization and ask them:

  1. Why were AB 549 and AB 550 moved to this committee?

  2. Does the committee intend to advance these bills so they can receive a floor vote?

There is precious little time left this legislative session for these bills to advance, so please take action now!

Questions? Take some time to visit healwithoutharm.org to learn more about this critical issue.

Wisconsin Right to Life
Heather Weininger
[email protected]
414-778-5780

Wisconsin Catholic Conference
Barbara Sella
[email protected]
608-257-0004

Wisconsin Family Action
Julaine Appling
[email protected]
608-334-6435

Pro-Life Wisconsin
Matt Sande
[email protected]
262-352-0890