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Both the state Assembly and state Senate were on the floor this week for the first and last time this month. The Assembly met on Tuesday and took up a bipartisan bill to allow pharmacists to prescribe and dispense birth control to those 18 years or older. AB 43 passed 87-10, and Rep. Chuck Wichgers (R) was one of ten Republicans who opposed the bill. Explaining his position ahead of the vote he said “the faulty and incorrect use of the pill makes the pill ineffective.” Bill author Rep. Joel Kitchens (R) said the bill would aid in preventing unplanned pregnancies by increasing access to birth control. “This bill will allow women to have more choices in reproductive health care, decrease the number of unplanned pregnancies and abortions, and it will save taxpayers’ dollars, and it will reduce generational poverty,” he said. The Assembly approved other healthcare bills today, including AB 11, requiring hospitals to obtain written informed consent from a patient before performing a pelvic exam solely for educational purposes while the patient is under general anesthesia or unconscious, and AB 8, requiring providers to explain what is covered under direct primary care agreements.
The Senate held their floor session on Tuesday and passed a bill to create specialized courts that would only take business cases. AB 73 passed 18-15 along party lines and was a result of the state Supreme Court discontinuing a pilot program that used commercial courts for business cases that had disputes over governance or internal affairs. Sen. Kelda Roys (D) criticized the bill, saying wealthy Wisconsinites would be able to choose “their own hand-picked judges while the rest of us wait for our day in court.” The bill will now go to Governor Tony Evers’ desk.
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