Wisconsin lawmakers quick to respond to report that Supreme Court may overturn Roe v. Wade
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin politicians reacted quickly after a report surfaced Monday night that the U.S. Supreme Court may be poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed the right to receive abortions.
According to Politico, which first broke the news, a draft opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito in February concluded Roe should be overturned and abortion legislation “return[ed]… to the people’s elected representatives.” Politico notes a decision is not final until it is published.
RELATED: What overturning Roe v. Wade would mean for Wisconsin
Should Roe v. Wade be overturned, abortions would become illegal in Wisconsin.
Lawmakers seized on the news, with Republicans praising the idea and Democrats blasting it.
“I pray this is true,” Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Nicholson wrote on Twitter shortly after the story broke.
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Tim Michels also praised the news on Twitter.
“Barbara and I have long worked for and prayed for this moment, and we hope this news proves to be true,” Michels said. “As governor, I will always work to protect the unborn, while working to win hearts and minds.”
“It’s about time!” Republican gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Kleefisch tweeted.
Former Gov. Scott Walker, Kleefisch’s former boss and the current head of the Young America’s Foundation, said, “If accurate, our prayers have been answered.”
“That means we must move from the court of law to the court of public opinion as we make the case for the protection of innocent life,” he continued. “Today’s young people are the pro-life generation. This is a true social justice issue.”
After demonstrations broke out outside the Supreme Court later Monday night, Sen. Ron Johnson, who is running for a third term, tweeted, “The goal of this unprecedented breach is to intimidate sitting Supreme Court justices. This is yet another example of how the radical left intends to ‘fundamentally transform’ America.”
Wisconsin Democrats, meanwhile, called on their colleagues in Washington, D.C., to act quickly to protect abortion rights.
“It’s time to stop treating abortion rights as an afterthought,” Democratic Senate hopeful Sarah Godlewski tweeted. “We need to end the filibuster and write reproductive freedom into federal law. This is the fight of our lives.”
Democratic Senate candidates Mandela Barnes and Tom Nelson called on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to get rid of the filibuster.
Barnes wrote in a statement, “It has never been more clear why we need to abolish the filibuster and take immediate action to protect every person’s right to make decisions about their own bodies. Republicans have proven they will stop at nothing to strip every individual of their right to an abortion. We must act now.”
“The Supreme Court has shown their hand,” Nelson said in a statement. “Senator Chuck Schumer must call a special session to blow up the filibuster and codify Roe now.”
Senate candidate Alex Lasry, meanwhile, tweeted a photo of himself outside the Supreme Court with a sign reading “I Stand with Planned Parenthood.”
“I’m enraged and grieving, not just for my wife and daughter, but for women in Wisconsin and all across the country,” he wrote. “Abortion care is worth fighting for, and I promise Wisconsinites I will do just that.”
Sen. Tammy Baldwin echoed calls to eliminate the filibuster.
“If #SCOTUS is going to legislate from the bench and turn back the clock 50 years on #RoeVWade, then the Senate needs to pass my Women’s Health Protection Act, and if we need to eliminate the filibuster to get it done, we should do that too,” she tweeted.
Rep. Mark Pocan also called on lawmakers to codify abortion rights.
“Safe abortions will always be accessible to the wealthy. It’s about taking away your right to bodily autonomy,” he tweeted.
Gov. Tony Evers tweeted he will “fight every day as long as I’m governor” to defend access to reproductive health care.
“The consequences of overturning Roe v. Wade cannot be overstated,” he said. “This could have disastrous consequences for Wisconsinites—including Wisconsin women and their families—more than 70% of whom do not support overturning the Roe decision.”
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway tweeted a link to the Politico story and wrote “Welcome to Gilead,” a reference to The Handmaid’s Tale.
In a statement Tuesday, Rhodes-Conway noted that abortion would be made illegal in Wisconsin if Roe v. Wade is overturned due to a 19th-century law that remains on the books.
“We refuse to go back to 1849,” she said. “We will not allow an extremist court, representing the position of a minority of voters, strip women of a hard-won right.”
Rhodes-Conway called on Congress to eliminate the filibuster and pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would codify the rights given by Roe v. Wade into federal law.
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