Madison – Someone you love will need an abortion. Many of you know I was pregnant last year. Thankfully, everything went well and I have a healthy one year old. But imagine being pregnant now – with abortion unavailable in Wisconsin – knowing that now is not the right time to have a child. Or knowing that something has gone horribly wrong in your pregnancy. You go to the emergency room, and you wait, and you wonder. Is the doctor doing everything they can to help you, immediately? Or are scared of being prosecuted, waiting to see how sick you get because the Republican-led legislature has refused to repeal Wisconsin’s draconian 1849 criminal abortion ban? Your future fertility is not a consideration. Preventing permanent disability is not a consideration.

This is personal for me, and it’s personal for every woman in Wisconsin, for every person who could be pregnant, and for every family. Someone you love will need an abortion. And the Republican-led legislature’s failure to act will harm them.

Fundamental rights should never have to be put up for a vote, but unfortunately in our state, Republican politicians have refused to hear the overwhelming voice of the people. The vast majority of Wisconsinites want to ensure that abortion is safe, legal, and accessible.

Indeed, in the wake of the massive victory for abortion rights advocates in Kansas, and the national polling showing how angry and scared Americans are that our rights have been taken away, Republicans are running scared – rushing to delete their extreme anti-choice positions from their websites, and dodging reporters and constituents when confronted about the horrible results of their policies to make abortion illegal.

But here in Wisconsin, Republican legislators feel emboldened to ignore the will of the people, because of their successful partisan gerrymandering, which is just as extreme as their drive to criminalize all abortion care.

That’s why Governor Evers is leading the fight to restore the rights and freedoms we had, via direct voter participation. In states where gerrymandered legislatures are no longer accountable and responsive to people on fundamental issues like abortion rights, letting voters have a say is the only way to preserve a responsive democracy.

My constituents want this – over the summer at listening sessions, at church, and in my inbox, I’ve had constituents ask me why we can’t vote to repeal the 1849 abortion ban, that is clearly unconstitutional but nevertheless is depriving thousands of Wisconsinites of safe, accessible, and necessary healthcare. “What can we do when our elected legislators refuse to listen?” they ask. Wisconsinites deserve a voice now, and Gov. Evers’ proposal gives them one.

I thank Governor Evers for always standing up for our rights, our health, and our democracy, and for always working to ensure that the will of the people is the law of the land.”

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