Three Years After the Dobbs Decision, Wisconsin Republicans are Still Trying to Ban Reproductive Freedom

MADISON, Wis. — Three years ago today, the United States Supreme Court, loaded with Trump appointed Justices who were approved by Ron Johnson and the Republican senate, destroyed 50 years of precedent as they struck down Dobbs and took away the right for women to make choices about their own bodies.

Despite the horrific impact this decision would make, Republicans cheered on the decision, applauding the government for taking away rights that used to belong to the individual. Since then, women across the country have died because they could not get the health care they needed when their pregnancy turned fatal. See what just a few of Wisconsin’s top Republicans had to say at the time of the decision, as well as what some of them have said and done when it comes to reproductive freedom:

• On Dobbs being overturned, WI-03 Rep. Derrick Van Orden said it was a “major milestone.” Van Orden has also said that when it comes to receiving an abortion due to rape or incest, it is “evil”, saying, “You can’t heal that evil [sexual assault] by adding more on it.”
• WI-07 Rep and possible GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany said “Today’s landmark ruling is a historic victory for human rights, this decision paves the way for us to protect all life.” Previously, Tiffany voted yes on a state senate bill that would make providing abortion punishable with up to three years in prison.
• Senator Ron Johnson called the fall of Dobbs the “correct decision” and previously signed onto at least six national abortion bans.
• While State Supreme Court Justice and candidate Rebecca Bradley hasn’t publicly commented on the Dobbs decision, she has a long history of opposing reproductive freedoms, and previously compared abortion to the Holocaust and slavery.
• Assembly representatives Pat Snyder (AD-85), Jessie Rodriguez (AD-21), and Shannon Zimmerman (AD-30) all took cues from their boss Robin Vos, who applauded abortion rights being kicked back to the states, by voting against a repeal of the 1849 ban.
• Two of the most vulnerable republicans in Wisconsin, State Senators Howard Marklein (SD-17) and Rob Hutton (SD-05), have well-established anti-choice records. Both have voted to uphold Wisconsin’s 1849 ban and to criminalize abortion providers.

WisDems Executive Director Sarah Abel had this to say about these lawmakers, and the state of reproductive freedom, since that harrowing decision:

“This decision has cost multiple women their lives, and we have never seen anyone — from Derrick Van Orden to Bryan Steil to Ron Johnson — acknowledge the damage it has caused so many families and communities. In fact, these same legislators cheered on the decision despite knowing that a ban from 1849 — a law from 176 years ago — would go into effect that would punish women seeking an abortion, and even open the door to jailing doctors who administer this procedure.

“We saw doctors flee our state because they would no longer be able to do their job. And while we have secured a liberal state Supreme Court, the threat to reproductive freedom is still clear and present. Republicans in Washington, like Van Orden, have been aided and abetted by a Republican legislature that wants to pull us as far back to 1849 as possible. Just five months ago they introduced legislation that would further restrict reproductive freedom in our state.

“All of these legislators are complicit in the harm that the Dobbs decision has caused, and continues to cause, and you can be certain that they will be held accountable at the ballot box for their cruelty.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.