Governor Walker signed 51 bills into law April 6. While many of those bills dealt with noninflammatory matters of transportation and hunting, some caused buzz beyond the capitol. Among them: laws placing more restrictions on abortions, a law discontinuing parental choice programs that make private schools easier to attend, and a decision to repeal Wisc. Act 219, a law which made it easy for employees to sue employers for wage discrimination.

Detractors claim the last bill is aimed directly at women, making it more difficult for them to sue employers who pay them less than they would a man in the same position. Those opponents say this bill and the abortion limitations are the latest salvo in a “war on women.”

The repeal of Act 219 specifically makes it harder for employees to sue for “discrimination in employment or unfair honesty or genetic testing,” and its stated aim is to suppress false claims of discrimination. But many employees discriminated against in this way are female, fueling the “war on women” fire.

It’s no secret that women’s issues have been a major talking point among state and national officials seeking election or supporting candidates. Most recently, CNN strategist Hilary Rosen said Ann Romney “never worked a day in her life,” opening a firestorm of debate on both sides. Can a modern woman balance a career and motherhood? Pundits and politicians alike weighed in. Vice President Joe Biden went so far as to state “the war on women is real,” and predicted it would only intensify the next time a president names new members to the U.S. Supreme Court.

With all of this talk about the “war on women,” it has to be a real problem. Right?

We at the Tribune disagree. We believe both these “anti-women” bills signed in Wisconsin and the remarks in national politics are simplified pieces of something else entirely — something bigger and more problematic than a “war on women” or a partisan feud.

Especially in Wisconsin, the repeal of Act 219 isn’t a “pro-women” or “anti-women” issue. At the core, the repeal makes it more difficult for anyone to sue for wage discrimination. Chalking the repeal up to one more “war on women” issue is fragmenting the problem and distracting us from the societywide problems that cross gender lines.

Wage discrimination and other discriminatory practices still exist in this state and across the country — more often to women, but to many groups who are a minority at their company. We can’t kid ourselves into thinking the issues aren’t there — they’re just too big to notice when we’re looking at it from too close up.

Regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation or any other identifying characteristic, no one should be discriminated against in the workplace. This isn’t just a women’s issue — it’s a human issue.

When we compartmentalize these issues by separating them into categories, like “women’s issues” or “LGBT issues,” we prevent the collaboration necessary to stop all discrimination in the workplace and the nation as a whole.

It’s time we take a step back and look at the big picture. If there’s a war to be waged, let’s make it against all workplace discrimination, to ensure every employee, whatever categories they fit into, is treated like an equal.