Madison, WI – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) released a decision overruling the landmark decisions Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in a majority opinion written by Justice Alito. State Senator Melissa Agard (D-Madison) released the following statement:
“This is a horrible day for our country. For decades, Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey have protected the reproductive freedom for millions of Americans and Wisconsinites. Now, in our dystopic reality, our children will have fewer freedom than their parents.
“Every person must have the right to make reproductive healthcare decisions that are best for them. No government should interfere with complex medical decisions made privately between a person and their doctor. Instead, the extremist conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court have prioritized their overtly partisan agenda rather than upholding the sacred right to bodily autonomy.
“Safe, accessible abortions have been vital health care for so many people across our country and in Wisconsin. This ruling today is an enormous overreach in effort to control and dehumanize reproductive healthcare. Forcing someone to continue a pregnancy against their will is an assault on their fundamental rights and liberty.
“In Wisconsin, this means our state may go back to an archaic 173-year-old law that banned abortion. Less than a year after we became a state, white male legislators passed an abortion ban that may now go back into effect because we never codified Roe or passed the Abortion Rights Preservation Act. Some Wisconsinites will go out of state to receive the care they need—but many will be forced to have unsafe, illegal abortions here. This is unacceptable, and this isn’t the Wisconsin way.
“I am disgusted and ashamed by this decision. As Wisconsinites, we must come together and take action to protect reproductive freedom for all of the people in our state.”
