MILWAUKEE – Tonight, State Treasurer and candidate for U.S. Senate Sarah Godlewski called out all of her primary opponents for treating reproductive rights like an “afterthought/extra credit project”:
GODLEWSKI: …to get this done in the Senate, I would get rid of the filibuster and pass Tammy Baldwin’s Women’s Health Protection Act that would codify Roe v Wade and make it the law of the land. But, yes, I am frustrated with my own party. We’ve had 50 years to make Roe into law, but we failed. Guys, I’m glad that now that Roe is overturned you are all now sharing your own personal stories because we all have to work together to make Roe v. Wade the law of the land. But where were you in talking about reproductive rights at a Citizen’s Action forum in November? And where were you guys talking about reproductive rights at a UW forum when they asked you what your priorities were in the U.S. Senate? I was the only one talking about reproductive rights because for me, this is not an afterthought. If Wisconsin wants to restore [a] woman’s right to choose, they’ll send the woman who will get the job done and defeat Ron Johnson in 2022 this November.
Sarah was the only candidate to raise the alarm on threats to reproductive rights at the November 2021 Citizens Action forum and at the February 2022 UW-Madison forum; no other candidates even mentioned reproductive freedom.
As the only woman in the Democratic primary, Sarah has received national attention for her leadership before and after the news first leaked that the U.S. Supreme Court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade and end the constitutional right to abortion. She was the first senate candidate in the country to cut an ad in the wake of the leaked decision. And, she called on President Biden to take executive action to protect abortion access following the leaked draft opinion.
During the 72 hours that followed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Sarah received more individual donations than any 72 hour-period on her campaign. She also delivered a passionate speech at DPW’s Convention about the Supreme Court decision. A straw poll at the convention also showed that Sarah is “effectively tied” with frontrunner Mandela Barnes.