Statement on the Overturning of Roe v. Wade
I made a statement on the overturning of Roe v. Wade and Wisconsin’s 1849 criminal abortion ban. I reiterated my support for abortion rights and access to needed healthcare. Watch the video or read the transcript below.
TRANSCRIPT
As you all probably know, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health ruling from the Supreme Court was handed down on Friday, which overturns Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood. That means that Wisconsin, the criminal abortion ban from 1849 is now potentially enforceable, that means that abortion is illegal in Wisconsin. And because we live in a gerrymandered state where the legislature does not represent the will of the people, the law won’t change any time soon even though the majority of Wisconsinites believe in access to abortion.
I can’t let this moment go by without telling you how I am devastated. How I am heartbroken. And how furious I am that this happened.
Abortion is healthcare. And nobody should restrict access to needed healthcare. Certainly not the state.
Women are going to die because of this. I, myself, could die. People don’t always think about the fact that pregnancy can turn on a dime. People can go from being perfectly healthy to bleeding out or dying of sepsis very quickly. And you don’t always have the option to fly to another state. I think about the fact that, when you talk about exceptions for life or health of the mother, what is the percentage of death that I have to justify in order to decide to live? Is it a 30% chance of dying? Is it a 50/50? Do I have to have my blood pressure dropping and slowly slipping away before I’m entitled to choose to save my life by accessing a health procedure? I have to be governed by a law that was passed 70 years before I even had the right to vote as a woman.
And you know that’s just one scenario. I hope you all know this but if you don’t, there’s ectopic pregnancies. Women carrying fetuses that will die immediately upon birth all the way to term. Women whose pregnancies are risky dying and leaving their children orphaned. Families falling deeper into poverty. Women tied to their domestic abusers or their rapists for life. And the people that will be most affected are those that already struggle financially or live in poverty, and especially women of color, especially black women, who have far far higher rates of maternal mortality. And women that have natural miscarriages are going to go to prison; and that already happens in this country. And for anyone that says that this is alarmist, please look up Savita in Ireland, Olga in Nicaragua, Izabela in Poland, Manuela in El Salvador. How many names of American women are going to be added to that list in the coming years, the coming decades.
Abortion is heathcare. Heathcare decisions are complex. And the only people that should be involved in those decisions are the person that’s pregnant and their doctor. It’s a private decision. It is nobody’s business but your own. And if we can’t access abortion, if we can’t choose whether and when to have children, we do not have bodily autonomy. And we are not equal citizens of this country.
One of the greatest honors of my life was being elected to this office. And I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of Wisconsin. And as of last Friday, I am told that those constitutions do not grant me bodily autonomy, do not allow me to make choices about my body and possibly even the decision to not die. I do not accept that.
So to everyone in Fitchburg that is pain because of this news, because of this new reality that we live in, I am with you. Please, please use me as a resource if you don’t know where to turn for information.
I am anguished. I am angry. But I am determined to fight to restore the right to abortion, and the right to bodily autonomy. And I invite all that are willing to join me in that fight.
Thank you.
NOTE
I want to add an addendum to acknowledge that this affects trans men and non-binary people and all who can get pregnant, and this decision affects them just as much as women. All people that are able to give birth deserve access to abortion. I see you too. I did not make this clear in my verbal speech, so it is incumbent upon me to clarify that here.