MADISON, Wis. – A new report has Ron Johnson doubling down on his ridiculous and self-serving comments that overturning Roe v. Wade won’t be “that big a change” and suggesting Wisconsinites can drive to Illinois to access abortion. See more below.
The Wisconsin State Journal: Ron Johnson says overturning Roe v. Wade might be ‘messy’ but won’t be ‘that big a change’
Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said he doesn’t expect abortion to be an issue in his campaign and said if Roe v. Wade is overturned “it’s not going to be that big a change” in Wisconsin despite a law on the books that would ban abortion in almost every instance.
“It might be a little messy for some people, but abortion is not going away,” he told the Wall Street Journal, adding that people can still drive to Illinois for an abortion if Roe is overturned.
Johnson’s statements that abortion isn’t “going to be the big political issue everybody thinks it is, because it’s not going to be that big a change” drew pushback from Democrats.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, said Johnson’s assurance that Wisconsinites can obtain abortions in Illinois “is really an irresponsible statement for a senator to make.”
“The vast majority of people who are seeking abortion are folks who may not have the resources” to travel to Illinois for an abortion, she told a Wall Street Journal reporter.
Black and Latino people are 1.8 and 1.5 more likely to live in poverty than the general population, according to 2019 census data. Additionally, the CDC reports Black and Latino women are far more likely to obtain abortions than white women.
Johnson’s comments came as the U.S. Senate was scheduled to vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act, an effort to codify nationwide abortion protections. But without enough Democrats in favor of eliminating the filibuster and not enough votes to override it, the effort was unlikely to succeed as the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to overturn the landmark ruling.
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The Oshkosh Republican has supported federal abortion bans in the past and praised the leaked Roe draft opinion but said the matter is best be handled by each state. Still, the Oshkosh Republican’s spokesperson, Alexa Henning, would not clarify whether Johnson would support a federal ban.
Last week, Johnson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he expects Wisconsin’s abortion ban first passed in 1849 wouldn’t last long if Roe is overturned, saying the democratic process
