Two years post-Dobbs, Wisconsin looks to the future of reproductive rights

Legal access to abortion remains a crucial talking point in the upcoming Wisconsin US Senate race between Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican candidate Eric Hovde, with the latter having expressed support for the Dobbs decision. 

Two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade’s protected rights to abortions in the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, Wisconsin continues to grapple with the decision’s impact and brace for its implications in the upcoming election cycle.

“Because of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe, Wisconsin women spent over a year experiencing firsthand what it’s like to live in a state that bans nearly all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest – a situation no one should ever be forced to face,” said Gov. Tony Evers in a statement on the decision’s anniversary. 

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin resumed their abortion services at clinics in Milwaukee and Madison last September, after the Dane County Circuit Court decided that an 1849 state law did not criminalize voluntary abortions. PPWI’s Sheboygan clinic followed suit in December. 

“Protecting access to abortion and birth control is essential to ensuring that everyone can make decisions about their reproductive health and lives,” said PPWI Chief Strategy Officer Michelle Velasquez in a video statement. 

Legal access to abortion remains a crucial talking point in the upcoming Wisconsin US Senate race between Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican candidate Eric Hovde, with the latter having expressed support for the Dobbs decision. 

“Eric Hovde has made his position on abortion crystal clear,” said Arik Wolk, rapid response director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin in a statement. “If he’s elected, he’ll be a vote to ban abortion and restrict reproductive freedom. Wisconsinites cannot trust Eric Hovde with their reproductive rights.”

State Democrats are emphasizing November’s election as a key decision for the future of reproductive rights nationwide. 

“We have the power and the responsibility in Wisconsin to restore and protect the freedoms of every Wisconsinite and every American, so that no American will know fewer rights than the generations before them,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler in a statement.