Wisconsin organizations react to special session on abortion law

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The special session on the dormant abortion ban called for by Governor Tony Evers ended as quickly as it began, Wednesday, as the Republican-led state senate gaveled in and out of session at the state’s capitol.

According to reporting from the Associated Press, the session lasted just 14 seconds.

Following the brief session, both Pro-Life Wisconsin and Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin raised their voices on the session, which the governor called for as the entire country continues to wait on the Supreme Court ruling on Roe V. Wade.

“We at pro-life Wisconsin see today’s special session as a non-event,” said communications director for Pro-Life Wisconsin, Anna DeMeuse. “It’s really just Governor Evers pandering to his far-left base voters; that’s how we see it, it was gaveled in and gaveled out, and that was pretty much the end of it.”

DeMeuse says Wisconsin Pro-Life viewed the session as more of a “political stunt” than anything else. But for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin president Tanya Atkinson, the session was a disappointing affair.

“When I heard that it was 14 seconds that they had contemplated legislation that would impact the health and lives of Wisconsinites for generations to come, it’s just, it’s inconceivable,” said Atkinson.

She says the actions of state lawmakers are forcing PPAW to take drastic measures to continue to put the patient first.

“We have made the decision, as of the 25th, to suspend abortion appointments because of the trauma that could be caused to patients that had an appointment and are expecting to receive services and then to have those services suddenly inaccessible in a matter of potentially minutes is really challenging,” said Atkinson.

Atkinson says the organization will still help assist patients after the 25th.

And both sides of the issue are still in the same waiting game, as a decision from the Supreme Court on Roe V. Wade has yet to drop.

“Pro-Life Wisconsinites and Pro-Life Americans have been playing the waiting game for almost 50 years since this decision was handed down in 1973 by the United States Supreme Court,” said DeMeuse.

Wisconsin adopted a ban on abortion except to save the mother’s life in 1849, a year after the territory became a state. The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that essentially legalized abortion nationwide in 1973 nullified the ban.

Copyright 2022 WMTV. All rights reserved.