Subeck & Risser Bills Will Eliminate Wisconsin’s Criminal Abortion Statute
January 19, 2017
(MADISON)—State Representative Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) and State Senator Fred Risser (D-Madison) are proposing legislation that would repeal the Wisconsin state statute that criminalizes abortion. This statute became unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973.
Explained Risser, “For the last six years Wisconsin Republicans have embraced antiquated ideas and policies concerning women’s healthcare, including attacks on abortion rights. Nationally, the incoming administration and Congress have already vowed a hostile dismantling of the policies, legal precedents, and funding that help millions of women access basic healthcare needs. Among these is the need to access safe abortion services. We are once again introducing legislation that would remove from Wisconsin statutes, a law that criminalizes abortion. Though currently unenforceable, the law would take effect if the extreme Republican agenda in Wisconsin and in Congress were fully realized and Roe v. Wade were overturned.”
Rep. Subeck added, “Arguably, it is important now more than ever to repeal Wisconsin’s draconian law that criminalizes abortion. With an extreme anti-choice majority in Congress and a President-elect who vows to appoint anti-choice justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, we face the biggest threat to abortion access seen in this country since Roe v. Wade was decided. At every turn, Republicans at the state and national level have attacked access to abortion and other reproductive health services to score political points. In the event Roe v. Wade was overturned and Wisconsin’s law is not repealed, we could return to a time where stories of women dying or suffering irreparable harm from botched illegal abortions are commonplace. To protect women’s health and safety in the face of an uncertain future for Roe, it is imperative that Wisconsin repeal our antiquated law criminalizing abortion.”
Click here to view a copy of the bill.
