Reality Check: Brad Schimel Lies About His Record Opposing Reproductive Freedom

MADISON, Wis. — After years of gloating about his work to rip away Wisconsinites’ health care and reproductive freedom, extreme right-wing politician Brad Schimel is scrambling to cover up his unpopular anti-freedom record in new misleading television ads.

But the facts about Brad Schimel’s long anti-abortion record don’t lie. Schimel supported Wisconsin’s 1849 criminal abortion ban, which does not include exceptions for rape or incest, and was proud to waste over $1 million taxpayer dollars suing Planned Parenthood in an effort to make it more difficult for Wisconsinites to access health care. If Brad Schimel had it his way, women would not be able to access abortion in Wisconsin.

“Brad Schimel never thought to hide his extreme anti-freedom beliefs until they became a liability in his quest for power, but the facts don’t lie,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Deputy Communications Director Haley McCoy. “Brad Schimel doesn’t trust women to make their own medical decisions. He spent his career trying to rip away Wisconsinites’ reproductive freedoms, and there’s no question that Schimel would try to do the same on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”

Here’s where Brad Schimel really stands on abortion:

• Brad Schimel said just last year that it would be a “sham” if the Wisconsin Supreme Court protected abortion access in Wisconsin because “there is not a constitutional right to abortion” in our state.
• Brad Schimel backed leaving Wisconsin’s 1849 criminal abortion ban on the books so abortion would become illegal if the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.
• But even before Roe v. Wade was overturned, Brad Schimel defended Wisconsin’s abortion ban, signing onto a legal white paper agreeing that the ban—which does not include exceptions for rape or incest—should be kept on the books and enforced if Roe was overturned.
• As attorney general, Brad Schimel was in court suing to enforce new restrictions on abortion access in Wisconsin. Schimel wasted over $1 million in taxpayer funds on an extreme partisan lawsuit seeking to enforce one of Scott Walker’s anti-abortion bills.
• Brad Schimel even said it was an “honor to have a case named Planned Parenthood v. Schimel.”
• Brad Schimel and his top aides worked with right-wing legal groups to end reproductive freedom nationwide. Schimel sought to keep it a secret that he and his staff attended a conference in 2017 hosted by a far-right hate group where the successful legal strategy to overturn Roe was hatched.

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.