fbpx
Connect with us

Wisconsin

By vast margin, La Crosse County votes to repeal Wisconsin’s 174-year-old abortion ban

Published

on

FILE - Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers speaks to a La Crosse Center crowd about reproductive rights on Saturday, June, 25, 2022, at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention held over the weekend in La Crosse. (PHOTO: Brad Williams)

Voters in La Crosse County let the Wisconsin Legislature know where it stands, generally, on the state’s 174-year-old abortion ban law.

The question on the ballot: “Should the Wisconsin legislature repeal or keep the state’s 1849 abortion ban that provides no exceptions in cases of rape or incest nor to protect the health of the mother?”

With 36,492 voting, 75.08 percent said repeal, winning over the “keep” votes 27,399 to 9,093.

“The state does not want this ban — the citizens of this state do not want that to happen,” La Crosse County Democratic Party chair William Garcia told WIZM. “So, the legislature needs to get on the ball and repeal the abortion ban, or they need to be replaced.”

Republicans that control the state Legislature put three questions on the statewide ballot — two dealing with bail reform, which could change the Wisconsin Constitution, and another nonbinding question dealing with welfare benefits.

The GOP, however, did not allow a statewide question trying to get the public’s take on the state’s abortion ban, despite Gov. Tony Evers’ request to do so.

Twice, Evers has called special sessions of the Legislature seeking to repeal the ban that was created before women had the right to vote and a year after Wisconsin became a state.

Republicans rejected both proposals within seconds — two of 11 special sessions ignored by the GOP in seconds — without any debate.

Before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June, Wisconsin law allowed abortions for any reason at 20 or more weeks post-fertilization or 22 weeks after the last menstrual cycle.

Under the current Wisconsin ban, first passed in 1849 and amended over the years, it is a felony to perform nearly all abortions.

The state Assembly recently proposed adding exceptions for rape and incest to the 174-year-old law.

“I won’t sign a bill that leaves Wisconsin women with fewer rights and freedoms than they had before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe,” Evers has said.

The state Senate, however, would not take up the measure, saying it didn’t matter because Evers wouldn’t sign it — something that hadn’t stopped the Legislature from passing other laws, like banning “critical race theory.”

The Senate, however, also might not have the votes to add rape and incest exceptions to the law, and therefore wouldn’t take up the measure.

Host of WIZM's La Crosse Talk PM | University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point graduate | Hometown: Greenville, Wis | Avid noonball basketball player and sand volleyballer in La Crosse

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *