One Wisconsin Now

My name is Julianne Bukey. I’m a senior at Scripps College, and I’m working for the summer at NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. You may have seen this video of me asking John McCain a question about insurance coverage for birth control at a McCain Town Hall meeting in Racine, Wisconsin on Thursday, July 31, 2008.   Read More »

It is no secret that anti-choice groups have long used radical tactics to oppose abortion. This year, we saw young children outfitted in "I survived the American Holocaust" tee shirts in legislative hearings in the Wisconsin capitol. Last July, we watched in horror as a group of "pro-lifers" staged, in front of a Milwaukee abortion clinic, a celebratory reenactment of the murder of a Florida abortion provider and his escort by Paul Hill.  In short, their campaigns and demonstrations have grown increasingly extreme and more inappropriate as of late.

Continuing in this vein, Pro-Life Wisconsin is holding prayer vigils across the state on June 7, the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Griswold v. Connecticut. For non-history buffs, this 1965 Supreme Court decision struck down a Connecticut law outlawing contraception for married couples. Since the legalization of contraception, birth control has become commonplace in our society. In fact, 98% of American women use contraception at some point during their lifetime. Despite birth control’s popularity and safety, Pro-Life Wisconsin is joining other anti-choice groups on June 7 to protest outside family planning clinics that prescribe and dispense contraception to low income women. The name of their oh-so-subtle campaign? "Protest the Pill Day '08: The Pill Kills Babies".

Yes, you read that correctly. No longer satisfied with attacking a woman’s right to choose abortion, Pro-Life Wisconsin is now attacking the millions of women who use contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

   Read More »

Today, State Representative Terry Musser (R-Black River Falls) announced he will not be running for reelection in 2008. One of the main reasons he cited for this decision is the persecution he received by members of his own party when he decided to defy his party's leadership and support the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims bill (CCRV).

As party lines in this country grow thicker every year, it is increasingly rare for a member of the Wisconsin state legislature to break the mold and create bipartisan support for a bill. By co-sponsoring the CCRV bill, Rep. Musser did just that. Due to his brave actions, rape victims in Wisconsin are now able to receive information about and access to emergency contraception in all emergency rooms across the state. Without Musser's vocal support,this commonsense legislation would not have passed.   Read More »

Pro-choice activists yawned at the "news" that John McCain was endorsed yesterday by Wisconsin Right to Life. After all, the guy has been one of the most extreme anti-choice votes in Congress - voting against birth control, abortion rights, and reproductive health care 125 out of 130 times over his Washington career.


McCain, contrary to the image his cynical marketing juggernaut has created, is neither a moderate, nor a maverick. (Discuss amongst yourselves.) Not when it comes to reproductive rights and women's health.


Let's look more closely at the REAL McCain: In 2006, McCain co-sponsored the Federal Abortion Ban, a law that criminalized some abortion services even when a woman's health was endangered. In this campaign, McCain put it more bluntly than Bush ever did, saying, "I do not support Roe v. Wade. I think it should be overturned." These are not the words of a moderate candidate - the vast majority of Americans support Roe and do not want to go back to the bad old days of back-alley abortions where women were treated like criminals.   Read More »

After passing through both branches of the state government, the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Bill is expected to be signed into law by Governor Jim Doyle. This law will require emergency room personnel to give information about emergency contraception to all victims of sexual assault, and dispense it if desired. Emergency contraception greatly reduces the risk of unintended pregnancy, thereby reducing the need for abortion. It is legal, safe, and available for over the counter purchase for women over 18. However, in a survey from 2002, it was found that less than 1/3 of Wisconsin hospitals had this contraception stocked.

In 2002, a survey found that 300,000 women were raped each year, resulting in 25,000 unwanted pregnancies. 16,000 of these unintended pregnancies ended in abortion. With the effectiveness of emergency contraception, 22,000 (88%) of the pregnancies and the resulting abortions could be prevented if all sexual assault survivors used emergency contraception.

Though it took women's health groups and pro-choice politicians five years to find the necessary support for the bill, it seems that many communities have long supported this legislation. The American Medical Association advocates provision of information and access to emergency contraception to rape victims. A bi-partisan survey of Wisconsin voters in 2004 showed that 82% of voters were in support of guaranteeing emergncy contraception access to rape and incest victims. This session, a bi-partisan effort in both the state Assembly and Senate has ensured that this bill will become law. As a result, the views of both the medical community and Wisconsin citizens will finally be represented by state law.

On Wednesday, February 27th, the Senate Health Committee heard testimony on SB 398, the Women's Health and Safety Act. The bill seeks to repeal Wisconsin statute 940.04 (Wisconsin's Criminal Abortion Ban), which, if Roe v. Wade is overturned, would outlaw nearly all forms of abortion in Wisconsin. Moreover, the law includes a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for doctors who perform an abortion and a woman could receive up to 3.5 years in prison for having an abortion or performing an abortion on herself. The law is currently unenforceable as the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade legalized abortions in all fifty states 35 years ago. However, if Roe fell, Wisconsin's Criminal Abortion Ban would immediately go into effect; local district attorneys could prosecute both women and doctors involved in the now-illegal procedure.
Throughout the hearing, pro-choice advocates from organizations such as NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin and Planned Parenthood kept their testimonies to the point, focusing on the antiquated law passed in the 1840's and the importance of repealing it. The anti-choice speakers often focused on graphic imagery and rare circumstantial cases that were off topic and had little to do with the legislation at hand. Here are some of the facts presented by the pro-choice organizations.
Last year, Bush's new Supreme Court upheld the Federal Abortion Ban in a 5-4 decision that sided against women's health, chipping away at one of the most basic principles of Roe. With this decision indicating a change in the federal court, it is only a matter of time before Roe v. Wade is overturned and the right to a legal safe abortion is back in the hands of our state government. The repeal of 940.04 is necessary before Roe is overturned, or women and doctors statewide will be facing criminal investigation for exercising the right to choose.
At the hearing, pro-choice organizations and advocates focused on the criminalization of doctors and women under the current law for providing or accessing basic health care. They focused on the necessity of repealing a bill so antiquated that at the time of its passing in the 1840's, women weren't allowed to own property or vote. Abortion is a personal decision, not a criminal act. Medical decisions should be kept private, rather than promoting the next McCarthy era by making these decisions a matter of public investigation.
The Women's Health and Safety Act is truly about keeping our prisons filled with real criminals, rather than criminals that were created by politicians looking to score political points.