Pro-Life Agenda, Classic Christmas Songs, Wisconsin Life: Lefse & Norwegian Cuisine

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Just in time for the holiday season, we talk to an expert about some of the most iconic Christmas songs and get the stories behind them. We also speak with a Wisconsin pro-life advocate about the agenda for the coming legislative session and we learn about Norwegian cuisine.

Featured in this Show

  • Anti-Abortion Activists Plan Agenda For Coming Legislative Session

    Wisconsin’s anti-abortion groups are setting their priorities for a new legislative session set to begin in three weeks, with a renewed and expanded Republican majority in both the state Senate and Assembly.

    Last session, the Legislature passed legislation that included a law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and another requiring women who seek abortions to first be shown ultrasounds.

    Chelsea Shields, the legislative director of Wisconsin Right to Life, attributes a decline in the number of abortions in the state to the new measures.

    “We have had stories pouring in over the past year, since Sonya’s Law (requiring ultrasounds) has been in effect, of women who have chosen life after seeing their babies on ultrasounds. In fact, just in 2013 alone we’ve seen 485 less abortions in Wisconsin,” said Shields.

    This session, anti-abortion activists are lobbying for two new pieces of legislation that would restrict access to abortions in the state: a “fetal pain ban” and an expansion of the state’s “right-of-conscience” law.

    The “fetal pain ban,” which is primarily being pushed for by Wisconsin Right to Life, would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Such measures are based on disputed evidence that fetuses begin to feel pain at 20 weeks.

    Shields said she sees the ban as a way to further reduce the number of abortions performed in the state.

    “We’re very excited to protect those babies that are capable of feeling pain. We could save approximately 100 lives every year by protecting pain-capable unborn children,” she said.

    Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action, also supports the measure and said Wisconsin residents do too.

    “The people in this state … voted largely for people who say they are pro-life in our state Senate and in our state Assembly,” she said. “I look forward to having a very good debate on these topics and at the end of the day, having these bills go to the floor and pass.”

    Appling’s priority this coming session is the expansion of the state’s “right-of-conscience” law, which would ensure doctors don’t face penalties if they refuse to perform abortions.

    “We right now have hospitals being mandated regardless of their religious affiliation … to provide emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault, even if the hospital and or health care provider has conscientious objections to that or religious objections to that. That’s not fundamentally right,” said Appling.

    The right-of-conscience expansion would not only pertain to contraception or performing abortions — it would also expand protection for professionals who refuse care or services to Wisconsin residents based on all kinds of religious or moral beliefs.

    “It’s about making sure that our people can live out 24/7 the full dictates of their conscience,” said Appling. “We believe the time has come to take a very close look at that.”

  • Wisconsin Pro-Life Groups Prepare Agenda For Coming Legislative Session

    Wisconsin’s new legislative session is set to begin in weeks, with a renewed and expanded Republican mandate in both the Senate and Assembly. Pro-life group, Wisconsin Right to Life, is hoping the legislature will ban abortions in the state after 20 weeks.

  • Classic Christmas Songs

    Just in time for the holidays we listen to some of our favorite Christmas classics, and discuss some of the stories behind the songs.

  • Wisconsin Life: Lefse & Norwegian Cuisine

    We learn all about lefse – the Norwegian flatbread enjoyed by many during the holiday season.

Episode Credits

  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Cynthia Schuster Host
  • Galen Druke Producer
  • Karl Christenson Producer
  • Julaine Appling Guest
  • Chelsea Shields Guest
  • Joan Peterson Guest