This post originally appeared at https://www.prolifewi.org/blog/2022/3/24/preparing-for-a-post-roe-world

PREPARING FOR A POST-ROE WORLD

By Dan Miller, Pro-Life Wisconsin State Director

Will we be living in a post-Roe world come June of 2022? Will the fall of Roe mean the end of abortion in Wisconsin?  Everyone is talking about it.  Pro-Life Wisconsin is doing something about it. We absolutely must amend our state constitution.  The problem lies in the declaration of rights:

“All people are BORN equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…”

I’m no lawyer, but even I can see a problem with this.  The Wisconsin Constitution says you must be BORN to be equally free and independent, and you must be BORN to enjoy fundamental rights, including the precious right to life!  If you don’t think a left leaning state supreme court would declare abortion a constitutional right in Wisconsin, and thus nullify all our pro-life laws, you would be wrong.  It has already happened in Iowa and Kansas.  We need to be proactive in Wisconsin when dealing with the first and most important right – LIFE.  We must enshrine equal protection for our preborn brothers and sisters in our state’s highest law. Please learn about our Wisconsin Personhood Amendment by going to our website at ProLifeWI.org/personhood.

We also have a pro-life statute, s.940.04, on our books, but it has been dormant under Roe.  Could it be used to prosecute illegal abortions in Wisconsin? The sad truth is that the law is only as good as our elected officials.  In a press conference as recent as December 14, 2021, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul stated that:

“Even if courts were to interpret that law as being enforceable, as attorney general I would not use the resources of the Wisconsin Department of Justice either to investigate alleged violations of that abortion ban or to prosecute alleged violations of it.”  

Yes, you heard that right! Elections have consequences, folks! Anyone who is hanging their hat on having s.940.04 decide the fate of preborn babies in Wisconsin should Roe fall may be sorely mistaken if county district attorneys refuse to enforce it. 

Some legal minds believe that should s.940.04 be challenged, it would be interpreted as a feticide statute only, not an abortion statute. See State of Wisconsin v. Glenndale Black.  Moreover, s.940.04 contains a massive loophole – a broad and undefined life-of-the-mother exception – that could make it largely ineffective in banning abortion. Anyone could get a “therapeutic abortion” as the statute sits with this glaring exception.  When have you ever known an abortion to be therapeutic for the baby?  Exactly.  Never. We will work hard to close this loophole and enact a total protection statutory abortion ban.

Please pray that Roe v. Wade is fully overturned, and please pray for Pro-Life Wisconsin as we lead the fight to ban abortion without exception in our state statutes and work to enshrine the right to life in our Wisconsin Constitution.