MADISON, Wis. — Last night, a leaked draft opinion of the Republican controlled U.S. Supreme Court showed that our nation’s highest court intends to overturn Roe v. Wade, our constitutional right to abortion. Roe v. Wade is currently the only safeguard standing between Wisconsin and an antiquated criminal abortion ban from 1849.
The 1849 law makes abortion illegal, even in cases of rape or incest, and would also threaten doctors who provide or facilitate abortions in Wisconsin with felonies. It could also force local clinics, that are vital to communities across Wisconsin, to close their doors for good, barring millions of Americans from access to essential medical care.
The following are statements from A Better Wisconsin Together Executive Director Chris Walloch:
“The leaked opinion from the Supreme Court is an unacceptable rolling back of our constitutional right to abortion. This effort from politicians and judges to strip Roe v. Wade is a frenzied attempt to restrict our freedom to choose, and continues a long running war on women, healthcare, and reproductive rights.
“By punishing not only those who are in critical need of reproductive healthcare, but also the medical professionals giving them a safe choice, politicians and supreme court justices against Roe v. Wade are telling Wisconsinites one thing: your body, their choice.
“Twenty-six states, including Wisconsin, would lose access to safe abortions if this draft opinion were to become final. That means 36 million women could be stripped of their right to make decisions about their own bodies. Those 36 million women aren’t strangers – they’re our neighbors, our friends, our children, and people who make our communities what they are.
“For now, abortion is still legal. The draft opinion that was leaked last night has no current legal authority. But attacks on reproductive freedom are real and significant. The U.S. Supreme Court is opening the door for politicians to impose new restrictions on people’s freedom to control their own bodies. This is a wake-up call to come together to protect and support our friends and family members’ ability to decide if or when they become a parent.
“No judge, no politician, no elected or partisan-appointed official should be able to take away our right to make personal medical decisions for ourselves, or take away our ability to decide if we want to start a family.”
We are lucky in Wisconsin to have progressive leaders like Governor Tony Evers, who has promised to continue to protect Wisconsinites’ reproductive freedom and veto any anti-choice bills that come across his desk. Together, we can respond to last night’s leak by telling Wisconsin lawmakers to follow suit with Gov. Evers.
