Michigan's Gretchen Whitmer stumps for Biden in Madison ahead of the Dobbs anniversary
MADISON – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined her Wisconsin counterpart on Monday to rally the state's most liberal city over President Joe Biden's efforts to preserve abortion access — an issue Democrats hope will boost voter enthusiasm within a tepid electorate.
Whitmer, a Democratic governor swept into office during a so-called blue wave in 2018 along with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, is often deployed by the Biden campaign as a key ally in the Midwest.
On Monday, Whitmer, Evers and other officials heard from community leaders and healthcare professionals at a roundtable discussion the Biden campaign conducted ahead of next week’s second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The decision eliminated a woman's right to an abortion nationwide and instead left such access decisions to state rules.
“It's really important to remind people that if Donald Trump gets a second term in the White House he has already committed to signing a national abortion ban,” Whitmer said. “Biden is the only person on the ballot who would win the White House and will protect these fundamental rights."
A spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Republicans have struggled to unify around a position on the issue.
Abortion remains a salient issue in Wisconsin, where Evers in 2022 and state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz in 2023 campaigned largely on abortion rights following the Supreme Court ruling.
After the decision revived an 1849 state abortion law banning the practice in situations except when the mother would die without one, abortion rights were suspended for 15 months until a Dane County ruling reversed the ban — a decision that is being appealed to the state Supreme Court. Trump declined to weigh in on the ban during a May trip to Waukesha.
Trump has frequently taken credit for knocking down Roe v. Wade and has also suggested states should set their own abortion policies, not the federal government.
“After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade,” Trump wrote in a May 2023 post on Truth Social. “Without me there would be no 6 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, or whatever is finally agreed to. Without me the pro Life movement would have just kept losing.”
Whitmer on Monday criticized recent efforts to restrict access to in vitro fertilization, contraception and abortion medication. The U.S. Supreme Court on June 13 upheld access to mifepristone, a key abortion medication, though states may try to revive the challenge.
“We know that the first term was devastating. The prospect of a second one … just shakes me to my core,” Whitmer said. “All of these are extended on the same fundamental right and that is substantive due process.”
She called reproductive health conversations in Wisconsin “critical” ahead of the prospect of a national abortion ban.
The visit comes as Trump is set to visit Racine on Tuesday, his campaign’s third visit this cycle and his first since calling the Republican National Convention host city Milwaukee “a horrible city.”
Evers on Monday said the comment about Milwaukee was “a good example” of how Trump hides behind views, and said it’s the same case with his changing stances on abortion.
“It's a way to absolutely hide behind positions,” Evers said.
Monday’s visit is the latest in a slew of events in Wisconsin, a key battleground state. Biden or campaign officials have made 13 visits this year.
According to the Marquette Law School’s May 23 poll, Trump is leading Biden by a 2% margin among likely voters in a two-candidate matchup.
Rachel Hale can be reached at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Whitmer stumps for Biden in Wisconsin ahead of Dobbs anniversary