Illustration by Анастасия Фризен - Getty Images.
Abortion rights protest
After the radical rightwing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court essentially took away a woman’s right to control who own body and her own future, abortion has become the most important issue in November for many women and the men who love them be it their fathers, brothers or significant others.
You will not see a binding referendum on the ballot protecting women’s rights because Wisconsin does not have binding referenda like other states, often on the coastal states, such as California and Massachusetts. You will probably not see even the word abortion anywhere on the ballot unless you are in a county that has an advisory referendum on a woman’s right to choose, but it is a major issue in the future of Wisconsin and the entire country. Wisconsin’s governor’s election, the attorney general’s election and U.S. Senate election will all have a major impact on a Wisconsin woman’s right to reproductive choice.
Wisconsin’s 1849 Anti-Abortion Law
The Wisconsin governor’s race most directly affects how restrictive and cruel to women of child-bearing age Wisconsin’s law will become. As we know, with the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade, Wisconsin may go back to being governed by an 1849 state law that bans abortions unless medically necessary to save a woman’s life. According to the 1849 law, a necessary abortion “is performed by a physician; and is necessary, or advised by two other physicians as necessary, to save the life of the mother.”
The law targets doctors, not the pregnant woman, and a doctor could face up to six years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. If the woman is more than 16 weeks into her pregnancy, a doctor could face up to 15 years of imprisonment and up to $50,000 in fines. As a result, a doctor in a Wisconsin county with an anti-abortion district attorney, especially one seeking to win support from the right, would be totally justified if she or he were reluctant to take too many chances.
To be clear, this 1849 law requires that a woman, who was raped, get victimized a second time by the State of Wisconsin forcing her to give birth to the rapist’s baby. This 173-year-old law was obviously passed decades before women were even granted the right to vote.
The Wisconsin Governor’s Race
Because of Wisconsin’s extreme gerrymandered legislative districts, the Republican majorities in both the Assembly and the Senate are far rightwing and strongly anti-choice. Republican legislators have had a variety of extreme anti-choice bills drafted, introduced and many passed in both chambers that would not only prosecute doctors, but also the pregnant woman, people who assist the pregnant woman in getting an abortion and more. The only reason these extreme bills are not law today is because Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed these bills that are totally out of step with Wisconsin.
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In Wisconsin, the polls consistently shows that a strong majority, 65%, of Wisconsin voters believe abortions should be safe and legal with few or no minor restrictions. According to the most recent Marquette Poll, even 79% of Republicans support an exception for rape and incest. Without Gov. Evers’ vetoes, Wisconsin would have some on the most extreme legislation of any state in the U.S. or even country in the world.
Evers’ Republican opponent in the upcoming November election, Tim Michels, has come out very strong on the opposite side of the issue. He proudly stated that Wisconsin’s 1849 anti-abortion law is “an exact mirror” of his position on a woman’s right to choose. This includes his opposition to any exceptions for rape and incest. He actually goes even further supporting a ban on “emergency contraception.” On reproductive choice, Wisconsin, under a Gov. Michels, would mirror states like Mississippi.
Wisconsin’s United States Senate Race
In the November U.S. Senate election, voters have a clear choice on the abortion question. The Democratic Senate candidate, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, has a strong history of supporting the right to choose when it comes to a woman’s reproductive decisions.
His opponent, current U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, has taken a strong anti-choice stand on the abortion question. He said that he supported the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the 49 years of settled law in Roe v Wade. Johnson supports Wisconsin being governed by that 1849 anti-abortion law that allows an exception under limited circumstances to save the pregnant woman’s life, but to be fair, he does support some exceptions for rape and incest.
Beside applauding the overturning of Roe v Wade, Johnson hinted about another very serious issue. He said that he thought the abortion question should be decided at the state level, but if that doesn’t seem to work, he would consider a national abortion ban. Right now, as we know, a woman in Wisconsin seeking an abortion can leave the state. In the Milwaukee area, most women are going down to Illinois. For lower income individuals especially those in places like central Wisconsin, hundreds of miles from any state border, this adds additional burdens. There are financial issues to cover travel, hotel rooms and restaurant costs along with childcare issues if she has children at home. This burden is piled on a woman who is already struggling with a very important and emotional issue.
The Wisconsin Attorney General’s Race
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, like Gov. Evers and Lt. Gov. Barnes, has a long history of strongly supporting a woman’s right to choose. The challenger, Republican candidate Eric Toney, has taken a hard line strongly supporting the anti-abortion position.
After Roe v Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, Attorney General Kaul filed a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s 1849 law and trying to prevent it from going into effect. The suit is based on several arguments. One of the main arguments being that after the 1973 Roe decision, there were a number of laws passed in Wisconsin that regulated legal abortions. These more recent laws, post 1973, would be in conflict with the 1849 law if the whole ban came back into effect. So, you would have inconsistent laws and as the lawsuit argues the old law would be unenforceable as a result. If Kaul’s lawsuit prevails, the abortion environment in Wisconsin would go back to what it was several months ago prior to the recent Supreme Court overturning what was settled law.
Toney said he would withdraw from that suit on day-one if he is elected Attorney General.
Unfortunately, our State Supreme Court has become politicized, so logic and a reasoned interpretation of the state constitution may not prevail.
If the 1849 law goes into effect, Kaul also said that he would not use any of the Wisconsin Dept. of Justice’s limited resources to investigate or prosecute anyone under the 1849 ban. Eric Toney was very clear that he would enforce the ban, which means prosecuting doctors
Wisconsin voters have very clear choices in these three major statewide races.
