Madison, Wis. – Today OB-GYN Dr. Emily Buttigieg published an op-ed in the Cap Times slamming Ron Johnson for endangering Wisconsinites’ lives by helping engineer the overturning of Roe v. Wade. In Wisconsin, a law from 1849 that bans nearly all abortion can now be enforced, in part, to Johnson’s efforts.
Read more below.
Cap Times: To ensure abortion care, get rid of Ron Johnson
Key Points:
As an OBGYN, I’ve had the privilege of building trusting and meaningful relationships with my patients, partnering with them through the happiest and most challenging times in their lives. I go to work every day with the determination to provide my patients with the best possible care.
Unfortunately, recently in a decision that ripped away the right for people to make their own medical decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court made my job harder and endangered the health and safety of my patients. The Supreme Court’s decision comes after decades of work by elected Republicans like Sen. Ron Johnson to use any means available to them, including appointing anti-choice judges, to undermine our reproductive health care.
For his part, Johnson has turned a blind eye to the reality that Wisconsin doctors and people across the state are now facing. He claims that repealing Roe v. Wade will just be “a little messy” and that if people don’t like the laws in their state they “can move.” He’s even gone so far as to say, “I don’t view that (as) such a huge threat to women’s health.”
As a medical professional who specializes in reproductive health care, I can unequivocally say Ron Johnson couldn’t be more wrong. Wisconsinites’ lives are in danger because of this moment that he helped bring us to. One thing I know from my years of experience is that people will find a way to get an abortion — regardless of how dangerous it may be — if they can’t access the proper medical care they deserve.
I’ve heard Johnson say, “Let doctors do their jobs” — so why won’t he let us do ours? He is determined to intrude on the private relationships between doctors and patients across Wisconsin and the country. It’s clear that Johnson will say and do anything to fulfill his self-serving agenda at the expense of Wisconsinites he’s supposed to represent. My patients deserve better than this.
In pushing to overturn Roe and leave abortion access up to the states, Johnson has enabled an archaic 1849 law to go into place and effectively end all abortions in Wisconsin…Under this law, I could be thrown in prison for providing my patients with abortion care even if deemed medically necessary.
My patients, and all Wisconsinites, deserve a leader who respects our rights and who will fight to keep medical decisions between patients and doctors. Johnson is not that leader — he has demonstrated time and time again that he isn’t working for the people of Wisconsin. It’s clear he’s in Washington only to serve himself.
One of the key solutions to the crisis our state now faces is electing a new U.S. senator who will protect the right to access abortion care, which is why we will vote Ron Johnson out of office in November.