MILWAUKEE – A year ago Friday, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade and allowed states to decide abortion access for themselves.
Wisconsin prohibited abortion almost immediately afterward. It is still prohibited today, but there is support for women’s healthcare from Planned Parenthood. Michelle Velasquez, Director of Legal Services and Advocacy for Planned Parenthood, says the last year has been a challenging one for Planned Parenthood. Despite it, Velasquez says operating in legal avenues to provide abortion access has been a priority.
“We’ve been focused on what our long term legal strategy will look like, to not only restore access to abortion in Wisconsin but to protect it as a right. Either by a statute or a court decision finding that the Wisconsin State Constitution confers a right to an abortion for Wisconsinites,” said Velasquez.
Among the court cases Velasquez is monitoring is one filed just days after Roe V. Wade was overturned last year. A Wisconsin law from 1849 bans abortions only in very specific conditions, such as danger of the mother’s life. A lawsuit filed by Attorney General Josh Kaul contends that the law is not enforceable because of more recent laws in Wisconsin. The lawsuit was filed in Dane County and is currently being litigated.
According to Velasquez, there were 22 Planned Parenthood locations in Wisconsin and not a single one has closed since the Dobbs v. Jackson decision. Abortions are not available at any of those locations, but a litany of other services are. Patients can still receive confirmation of pregnancies, vasectomies, mammograms and several others. Planned Parenthood Wisconsin also drives patients to other states, usually Illinois, that do have access to abortion. It is not illegal to leave Wisconsin for the purpose of getting an abortion, like it is in Idaho.
Abortion continues to be one of the most polarizing social issues. Velasquez says the restrictions from state and federal government have motivated more people to organize to support access to safe abortions.
“As terrible of a decision as Dobbs is, it has really galvanized people to think about reproductive health rights more broadly, in a way that people had not centered them in the past.”
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