Gov. Tony Evers calls special session to overturn 1849 Wisconsin abortion law. Senate GOP leader vows no action.
With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to decide the future of Roe v. Wade, Wisconsin lawmakers predictably butted heads Wednesday over what, if anything, to do.
Gov. Tony Evers signed an executive order in the morning requiring the state Legislature to meet in special session June 22 with the intent of overturning the 1849 state law that — if Roe falls — would criminalize doctors for providing abortions except in cases where it is necessary to save the mother's life.
By the afternoon, Wisconsin's Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu issued a statement promising no such change would occur and calling Democrats' views on abortion "abhorrent and extreme." He said Republicans would gavel open the session and then immediately close it.
Wisconsin law hasn't changed yet, LeMahieu wrote.
“Wisconsin law has not changed and our pro-life position has not changed. Killing innocent babies is not health care,” he said. “We will gavel out of another blatantly political special session call from this partisan governor.”
Abortion is currently still legal in Wisconsin. But the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion indicates the high court is poised to overturn the right to abortion access promised by Roe.
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A decision from the court is expected within a matter of weeks.
The cycle of Evers calling for a special session only to be ignored by state Republicans is not new.
It's what happened when he tried to expand BadgerCare Plus, when he sought to overhaul police practices after the shooting of Jacob Blake and when he proposed a plan to give every Wisconsinite a $150 tax rebate and funnel $750 million into education, among other instances.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos did not respond to the Journal Sentinel's request for comment. Vos has said previously that he supports adding an exception for rape and incest to Wisconsin's abortion law.
Asked why he chose to take the special session approach again given past shutdowns by lawmakers, Evers said the 1849 law is something "we have to focus on like a laser."
"This gives an opportunity for people in the state of Wisconsin to weigh in on their legislators," Evers said. "That's my message."
"Everybody knows that the will of the people is to get rid of this 1849 law," he added, calling on people to call and write their legislators.
A poll by the Marquette Law School published May 26 found 40% of respondents rated abortion access as one of the most important issues to them. The poll also found 67% of people thought abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 32% said it should be illegal in all or most cases.
At the press conference Wednesday, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and Evers called out the Legislature for not responding to their months-old pleas to address the 1849 ban.
"While there will almost certainly be litigation over what the status of Wisconsin law is, while that litigation is playing out and the possibility of criminal prosecution for providing access to abortion services looms over the heads of physicians, access to safe and legal abortion will disappear in Wisconsin," Kaul said. "And if the courts find that that abortion ban has an effect, it could disappear for a long time in the state of Wisconsin."
Kaul previously told reporters he would not enforce the 1849 abortion ban if Roe falls.
More: Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul says he would not assist with enforcing abortion ban
"As long as I am AG, (the state Department of Justice) will not be using its resources to investigate or prosecute alleged violations of the 170-plus-year-old abortion ban on the books," he said in an interview with the Journal Sentinel in May.
"I believe that our investigative and prosecutorial resources in Wisconsin should investigate and prosecute things like violent crime and drug trafficking and not be diverted from those investigative and prosecutorial needs to be used to go after people for abortions."
Heather Weininger, the executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, told the Journal Sentinel the group does not support the move to overturn the Wisconsin ban.
"We're disappointed to see that Governor Evers is looking to overturn a ban that protects children in the womb. He's calling for a world where our kids and grandkids can have the same opportunities, but, you know, let's let them have that opportunity at life so they can live that life," she said.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin issued a statement Wednesday applauding Evers' move.
Speaking at the press conference, Allie Linton, an obstetrician and gynecologist and associate medical director at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said the 1849 ban scares her because it will require her to turn away patients who need care.
"I think about my colleagues, who will be presented with a patient whose bag of water breaks too early or a patient who's having heavy bleeding before the pregnancy can survive outside of the womb," she said. "Instead of providing the care that we know is safe and medically right, physicians will have to wait and watch our patients get sicker, deliberating at what point our patient becomes sick enough to be able to meet the ban's narrow life exemption. This ban forces physicians to go against our oath to do no harm or face years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines."
Contact Devi Shastri at 414-224-2193 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @DeviShastri.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Evers' call for special session on abortion in Wisconsin foiled by GOP
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