Thread by @benwikler

Wisconsin has a pre-Civil War abortion ban that could take effect if #RoeVWade is overturned. And WI Republicans want to go even *further.* In this moment of crisis, it’s even more critical to reelect Gov @Tony4WI and AG @JoshKaulWI. Thread on the state and stakes of the fight →

@Tony4WI @JoshKaulWI Trigger warning: this thread talks in general terms about horrific circumstances in which Republicans still want to ban abortion.

Wisconsin became a state in 1848. The next year, the state legislature passed a ban on abortion. Under this law, performing an abortion is a felony for which doctors could be punished up to 6 years in prison—unless necessary to save the life of the mother. docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statu…

Roe invalidated Wisconsin’s abortion ban, but it’s still on the books. Governor Tony Evers, Attorney General Josh Kaul, and Wisconsin Democrats have been pushing to repeal the law and protect reproductive freedom—but WI Republicans have refused.
weau.com/2022/01/21/gov…

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Republicans have been pushing a slew of new bills to constrict reproductive freedom. Governor Evers has already vetoed nine of them: four in the 2019 session, 5 in 2021.
jsonline.com/story/news/pol…

Each of the Republican candidates for governor welcomed the leaked draft decision with enthusiasm. 61% of Wisconsinites support Roe. But Rebecca Kleefisch wrote “SCOTUS will overturn Roe v. Wade. It’s about time!”

https://twitter.com/RebeccaforReal/status/1521297160884527104

Twelve years ago, @RebeccaforReal echoed and agreed with a fellow Republican politician’s statement that rape survivors considering abortion should “turn lemons into lemonade.”
facebook.com/permalink.php?…

In fact, @RebeccaforReal believes that Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban, which makes an exception only for the life of the person carrying the child, doesn’t go far enough.
wkow.com/news/why-wisco…

And just yesterday, #RadicalRebecca doubled down to say she wouldn’t support abortion in the cases of rape or incest, something the 1849 law does not exempt for either:

Kevin Nicholson (@KevinMNicholson), a long-time supporter of defunding Planned Parenthood, has pledged to support a “personhood” bill that could limit access to IVF treatments and access to contraception. Here’s how he reacted to the SCOTUS leak:

https://twitter.com/KevinMNicholson/status/1521300989596348418

Tim Ramthun (@Ramthunforgov) said in his campaign video that he opposes any exceptions to an abortion ban, and that he’s “hardcore, 100% pro-life without exceptions.” How he took the recent news:

https://twitter.com/Ramthunforgov/status/1521498404324532225

And the latest in the race, Tim Michels (@michelsforgov) has supported banning abortion even in cases of rape and incest since 2004. He hasn’t changed his stance one iota.

https://twitter.com/michelsforgov/status/1521306806462652418

To sum up GOP candidates for WI Gov:

Rebecca Kleefisch: “opposes abortion under any circumstance.”
Kevin Nicholson: “I'm not looking to add exceptions to anything.”
Tim Ramthun: ​​“I am hardcore, 100% pro-life without exceptions.”
Tim Michels: no exceptions for rape or incest

You can read more about the four major Wisconsin Republican candidates for governor at the websites that @WisDems made for them:
RadicalRebecca.com
AntiChoiceKevin.com
TrumpyTim.com
TimMichels.com

The contrast to Governor Evers could not be more stark. The Republicans are all committed to an extreme abortion ban. Governor Evers is steadfast in his commitment to reproductive freedom, including keeping abortion safe and legal.
jsonline.com/story/news/pol…

In fact, Governor Evers is leading a push by 17 governors to urge federal action to protect access to abortion—and is doing everything in his power to fight at the state level as well.

https://twitter.com/Tony4WI/status/1522316915049480194

Governor Evers will continue to veto attempts to block reproductive health care—and we might need that veto pen soon, even more than before. It is absolutely critical to ensure that Governor Evers is reelected in November.

Meanwhile, there’s an office that will play a key role with regard to reproductive freedom in Wisconsin: our Attorney General. AG Josh Kaul made clear that if Roe is overturned, he won’t use Dept of Justice resources to enforce the abortion ban.
wisn.com/article/state-…

Meanwhile, Republican candidates for AG are enthusiastically pledging state resources to enforce the 1849 abortion ban, which could jail doctors for six years for providing health care services to their patients.
jsonline.com/story/news/pol…

It’s important to emphasize: we don’t know the U.S. Supreme Court’s final decision. And right now, access to abortion is still protected by the U.S. Constitution, and clinics and doctors are able to provide abortion care, in Wisconsin and elsewhere in the country.

And yet abortion access is in extreme peril. There are many ways to fight back. One of them is to defeat extremist Republicans and elect pro-choice Democrats like Tony Evers and Josh Kaul.
Chip in here to support Governor Evers’s reelection:
secure.actblue.com/donate/tesopc?…

And chip in here to reelect AG Josh Kaul: secure.actblue.com/donate/jktweet…

And at the federal level, Congress must act and codify Roe into law. Senator Baldwin’s Women’s Health Protection Act could pass the Senate if we could get just a few more votes to eliminate the filibuster.

https://twitter.com/SenatorBaldwin/status/1521309095453671426

Chip in to WisDems to help us beat Ron Johnson—and to reelect Governor Evers, AG Josh Kaul, and Democrats up and down the ballot:
secure.actblue.com/donate/aprileo…

And lastly—this is the time to get out the vote. If you haven’t yet requested your absentee ballot for November (and the August primary election), do it now at myvote.wi.gov.

And if you have some hours to spare to fight for freedom, sign up to volunteer. We need all the help we can get. wisdems.org/volunteer