MADISON, WI –– Today, patient storytellers and advocates joined Free & Just to mark what would have been the 53rd anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision and spotlight the latest threats to abortion care for women and families nationwide. For nearly 50 years, Roe v. Wade protected the legal right to abortion until the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Since then, reproductive health care and pregnancy have become less safe in America as anti-abortion extremists are aggressively pushing to ban abortion nationwide – even in states where it is currently protected.
The would-be anniversary of Roe comes as President Trump enters his second year of his second term. Trump and his allies have moved swiftly to enact their extreme anti-abortion agenda, using every lever at their disposal to attack abortion care — no matter how many lives are lost. From attempts to ban medication abortion, to stripping away protections allowing doctors to provide lifesaving emergency care to patients in need, and banning access to abortion care for veterans who served our country – this administration has proven that they will stop at nothing to ban abortion nationwide.
As far-right extremists attack all Americans’ health care, we must remember that access to reproductive care is under attack. At today’s event, Senator Roys, storytellers, and advocates uplifted the stories of women and patients affected by ongoing efforts to roll back rights on reproductive freedom nationwide.
“Roe is one in a line of cases that talks about Americans having the dignity and having the privacy of autonomy. It is not just Roe that is under attack by right-wing ideologues; it is that whole line of cases that guarantees each and every one of us the right to make our own decisions about our lives,” said Wisconsin State Senator Kelda Roys (D-Madison). “Republican politicians will stop at nothing to strip women of our most basic and fundamental right to our own health and our own lives. We’re not going to be silenced or demoralized by anti-choice politicians who want to silence us. Together, we can create a future where every single one of us has the autonomy to make our own choices, to chart our own life course. Regardless of what any individual might feel about abortion, every single one of us deserves to live free in a society where we get to make our own decisions about our own health, our own bodies, and our own lives free from political interference. That’s what it means to have healthy, thriving families and live in a free society.”
“Here in our nation, and here in the state of Wisconsin, our freedoms are under attack. And we will not stand back and watch our freedoms be taken away from us,” said Dana Pellebon, patient storyteller and Executive Director of RCC Sexual Violence Resource Center. “When we say reproductive justice and reproductive freedom, that means that what we want is for every person with a uterus to be able to choose what they want to do with their body, and what they want to do, with how they choose to move forward with their medical decisions.”
“Project 2025 made clear what was at stake. It was not just about abortion policy. It was about power. It was about using the machinery of government to impose one narrow religious ideology on a religiously diverse nation. As a Baptist, I must say plainly that this agenda was — and is — a violation of our religious freedom,” said Rev. Tim Schaefer, Pastor of First Baptist Church of Madison & co-chair of the Wisconsin Coalition for Religious Freedom. “When the state claims the authority to decide whose bodies are controlled, whose beliefs count, and whose conscience matters, none of us are free. Today it is abortion, tomorrow it is contraception, then marriage, gender identity, worship, speech, and dissent. On this anniversary of Roe, we remember what was lost, but more importantly, we recommit ourselves to what must be protected and reclaimed. Forward, not backward. In faith. In freedom. In justice for all.”
“If Roe was the law when I needed an abortion, I would not have been forced to travel abroad to seek care. In 1970, my birth control failed and I became pregnant. Six weeks later, I traveled alone to Mexico City for an abortion. Fast forward to today, I’m happy that I was able to get the care I needed and make this very personal decision for myself,” said Patricia McFarland, patient storyteller who received an abortion before Roe v. Wade. “Roe gave women protections that I wish I had as a teen. I am devastated that the rights guaranteed under Roe have been stripped away for those who need it the most today. As I reflect on what would have been 53 years since the Roe decision, I know for certain that women will suffer so long as politicians interfere in our ability to make our own private medical decisions.”
“If I have learned anything from this roller coaster, both the past year or in Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s past 91 years, we are not ones to back away from a fight. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin stands firmly with the people of Wisconsin and their continued need to access affordable, non-judgmental, compassionate reproductive healthcare,” said Sydney O’Hare, Public Relations Madison Organizer for Planned Parenthood Wisconsin. “This moment is built by people who love their communities enough to stand up for them. And together, we are powerful enough to protect our freedoms to make decisions about our own lives and our own futures.”
If you are interested in speaking with any of the participants in the press event, please contact malachi@freeandjust.us.
Free & Just is committed to fighting for reproductive freedom. Join us in sharing stories, raising voices, and securing our future.
