Team Romney: Featuring Governor Jan Brewer
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Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has always been something of a trailblazer, even if the trail is going in the wrong direction. Brewer was one of the first Republican governors to endorse Mitt Romney. Discussing her support for Romney on Fox News, she said, "The Romney team, myself included, we're ready for the long haul.”
As a member of the so-called Romney team, Brewer fits in quite well. Her record on women’s health is just as out of touch as Romney’s, and some may argue it’s even worse. Here are the facts:
Her most recent offenses include signing the "Whole Woman’s Health Funding Priority Act" — an ironically titled bill that actually gives women FEWER options for health care. The bill bans funding for Planned Parenthood in Arizona — eliminating access to preventive health care for 4,000 Arizonan women. Brewer signed this bill on a Friday evening at a Susan B. Anthony List event — an organization dedicated to making abortion illegal and defunding Planned Parenthood. This bill will put women’s health and lives at risks by restricting access to preventive and lifesaving care, but that fact was of little concern to Brewer who touted her support.
But that bill came just days before Brewer signed Arizona’s very own birth control refusal bill. Another bad bill, the refusal bill would allow employers to discriminate against employees who use birth control. Seriously! The bill repeals the state’s existing contraceptive equity law (originally a Republican-led proposal signed into law by then Catholic and Republican Governor Jane Hull), and broadens the religious exemption that already exists as a basis to further chip away at women’s access to birth control.
And of course, Brewer’s anti-women’s health record would not be complete without mentioning her signing of one of the most extreme abortion bans in the United States. She went above and beyond by signing a bill that places severe limits on when women can get an abortion. This bill takes the decisions away from a woman, her family, and her doctor and places it into the hands of politicians (last time we checked, most politicians don’t have medical degrees, so why do they collectively keep playing doctor?).
So if you think what’s going on in Arizona is bad, imagine what it would be like on a national scale. All of these bills were signed within 30 days. Imagine giving Romney four years to sign such legislation into law. Jan Brewer and Mitt Romney both want to gut women’s health care, and let employers decide what health care an employee can or cannot get on their health insurance. This anti-women’s health duo’s views are far outside the mainstream of most Americans. Affordable access to birth control and funding for Planned Parenthood are overwhelmingly popular, but their ideology trumps public opinion.
Brewer and Romney’s close relationship is a dangerous sign of the type of legislation we could expect under a Romney presidency. So she may be an early member of Team Romney, but if women have anything to say about it Team Romney won’t get to run the show.
For a report of what's happening on the ground in Arizona, check out our guest post from Planned Parenthood Action Fund Volunteer, Arthi Satyanarayan.
