House Joint Resolution No. HJ0007, "Resolution-conscience rights," passed introduction on Friday and passed out of the House Education Committee yesterday. This anti-choice resolution has now gone back to the full Wyoming House of Representatives for consideration and will likely come up on "General File" for a vote in the next day or two.
HJ7 calls upon President Obama to reverse a rule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requiring insurance coverage of all Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods as well as sterilization without a co-pay or deductible. The rule excludes churches/houses of worship and makes accommodations for religiously affiliated employers such as universities and hospitals. HJ7 would put the Wyoming Legislature on record as opposing health insurance coverage of contraception and sterilization.
State Representatives need to hear from us and realize that there is significant opposition to this resolution. Please look below for a list of Representatives by county with e-mail addresses. Please send an e-mail to your Representative (or all of the Representatives for your county). Include your city/town as well as your name in any e-mails you send so the Representative(s) know that you live in their area. You may also leave a message at the Voter Hotline -- 866-996-8683 (777-8683 in Cheyenne) -- for your county's delegation to "Vote NO on House Joint Resolution 7". Or, use the Online Hotline to contact your representative.
Our Primary Concerns:
• The HHS rule on essential services is not about government mandates. This is about the importance of reproductive medical care and women's health. HHS heeded the findings of an independent panel of experts, the Institute of Medicine, which recommended that birth control be included as a preventive health care benefit.
• Forcing women to pay out-of-pocket for contraceptives puts an unfair, discriminatory cost burden on a certain segment of society, and women may choose not to use the most effective form of birth control due to cost concerns.
• Birth control pills are sometimes prescribed and used for many other medical conditions. Allowing employers to exclude contraceptives from health insurance plans could also prove costly to individuals with such conditions.
• Contraception helps prevent unintended pregnancies, improves the quality of women's lives, and reduces the need for abortion.
Email Your Representative and ask them to Vote NO on HJ7:
Albany County: Kermit Brown kermitbrown@wyoming.com - Cathy Connolly cconnolly@wyoming.com - Matt Greene mgreene@wyoming.com - Glenn Moniz gmoniz@bresnan.net
Big Horn County: Elaine Harvey harvey00@tctwest.net (also Park County) - Lorraine Quarberg lquarberg@wyoming.com (also Hot Springs and Park Counties)
Campbell County: Gregg Blikre gblikre@wyoming.com - Norine Kasperik nkasperik@wyoming.com - Tom Lubnau tlubnau@vcn.com - Sue Wallis sue.wallis52@gmail.com
Carbon County: Donald Burkhart dburkhart@wyoming.com (bill sponsor) - Jeb Steward jebsteward@union-tel.com (also Albany County)
Converse County: Richard Cannady rcannady@wyoming.com - Frank Peasley fpeasley@wyoming.com (also Platte County)
Crook County: Mark Semlek msemlek@wyoming.com (also Weston County)
Fremont County: Rita Campbell rcampbell34@wyoming.com - Patrick Goggles pgoggles@wyoming.com - Del McOmie dwmcomie@bresnan.net - David Miller repmiller@wyoming.com
Goshen County: Ed Buchanan ebuchanan@wyoming.com - Matt Teeters mteeters@wyoming.com (also Platte County)
Johnson County: Michael Madden madden@wyoming.com (also Sheridan County)
Laramie County: James Byrd jbyrd@wyoming.com - Amy Edmonds aedmonds@wyoming.com (bill sponsor) - John Eklund jeklund@wyoming.com - Ken Esquibel kesquibel@wyoming.com - Pete Illoway pete_chloeilloway3@msn.com - Bob Nicholas bnicholas@wyoming.com - Bryan Pedersen bpedersen@wyoming.com - Mary Throne mthrone@wyoming.com - Dan Zwonitzer dzwonitzer@wyoming.com - Dave Zwonitzer davezwonitzer@wyoming.com
Lincoln County: Kathy Davison kdavison@wyoming.com (also Sublette and Sweetwater Counties) (bill sponsor) - Robert McKim rmckim@wyoming.com (bill sponsor)
Natrona County: Bob Brechtel bbrechtel@wyoming.com (lead bill sponsor) - Gerald Gay ggay@wyoming.com - Steve Harshman sharshman@wyoming.com - Kendell Kroeker (bill sponsor) - Thomas Lockhart tlockh1617@aol.com - Bunky Loucks bloucks6@bresnan.net (bill sponsor) - Tom Reeder treeder@wyoming.com (bill sponsor) - Tim Stubson tim@stampedeforstubson.com
Niobrara County: Hans Hunt hhunt@wyoming.com (also Weston, Converse, and Goshen Counties)
Park County: Dave Bonner dbonner@wyoming.com - Pat Childers childers@wyoming.com - Samuel Krone skrone@wyoming.com
Sheridan County: Rose Berger rberger@wyoming.com - Jon Botten jon@bottenlaw.com - John Patton johnpatton@wyoming.com
Sweetwater County: Joe Barbuto jbarbuto@wyoming.com (also Fremont County) - Stan Blake sblake@wyoming.com - Bernadine Craft bcraft@wyoming.com - John Freeman freeman@wyoming.com
Teton County: Keith Gingery kgingery@wyoming.com (also Fremont County) - Ruth Ann Petroff rpetroff@wyoming.com - Jim Roscoe jim@roscoeco.com (also Lincoln and Sublette Counties)
Uinta County: Allen Jaggi ajaggi@wyoming.com (also Sweetwater County) (bill sponsor) - Owen Petersen opetersen@wyoming.com - Clarence Vranish vranish@wyoming.com
Washakie County: Mike Greear mgreear@rtconnect.net
