Grassroots groups rally in Milwaukee against Wisconsin abortion ban

This story is part of a series on the fallout of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the federal constitutional right to abortion.

MILWAUKEE, WI — On Saturday, Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee and other abortion rights supporters took to the streets on the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade. It was a small group, with only one lawmaker from the state in attendance, but the grassroots organizations that were there spoke powerfully about the changes they wanted in their state and the progress they’ve made so far.

Rachel Knoebl, 24, is a member of Medical Students for Choice at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She told a story about having lifesaving surgery for a ruptured ectopic pregnancy.

“After being bounced around by several doctors and other providers, someone finally told me that I would need emergency surgery to terminate my pregnancy and remove the fallopian tube … that my pregnancy had taken over,” Knoebl said.

“I was lucky that I could receive my care right then and there in the hospital. I was lucky that there was no question from providers about whether my pregnancy termination qualified as lifesaving for me as the pregnant person. And I was lucky that I did not have to sit in the hospital actively bleeding out while providers argued over whether or not performing the abortion would get them into legal trouble,” she said.

She added: “As a future abortion provider and native of Wisconsin, I know my state and future patients deserve better. We have to continue fighting for abortion.”

Wisconsin’s abortion ban dates back to 1849. The restrictive law took effect after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization reversed its 1973 Roe ruling.

Since the fall of Roe, Wisconsin medical schools have seen an 8% decrease in applications to OB-GYN residencies.

Wisconsin state Rep. Ryan Clancy, who also serves on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, told the American Independent Foundation that it’s been a struggle to “make sure that folks have not only the right to an abortion, but abortion access.”

“So we’ve got a couple of things at the county level in defense of that. Twice now, I tried to get an advisory referendum on the ballot. It should have been last November, and we didn’t have the votes for it,” Clancy said. “But it was on this April’s ballot. It turns out that 74% of folks who voted in Milwaukee County are in favor of this basic reproductive right.”

He added that he’s working to make sure that Milwaukee County employees have access to abortion.

“We have something circulating right now we expect to see a hearing on either in July or September that would provide a fund so that any medical procedure not available in-state would also be available to county employees for reimbursement for travel, hotel rooms, and things like that outside of state,” Clancy said.

One young person in attendance at the rally was 12-year-old Sonae. With the permission of her mother, Star, she told the American Independent Foundation of abortion bans “It’s not stopping abortions, it’s just stopping safe ones.”

“I think that there are so many reasons why people need to be able to have abortions. If somebody was sexually assaulted, they shouldn’t have to live with that, and they should have the choice to take that out of them. … People in my life, they’ve had abortions, and I support that because there’s always a reason, and even if it’s not, it’s not anybody’s choice but their own,” Sonae said.

Caitlin Benedetto is a member of the Madison Abortion and Reproductive Rights Coalition for Healthcare. In her speech, she talked about Wisconsin’s archaic 1849 abortion ban.

“The Wisconsin ban on abortion was [en]acted in 1849, before women could vote, before slavery was made illegal across the country, except in prisons, and before laws against child labor were enacted,” Benedetto said. “So why are we expected to live by the decisions of a government that didn’t represent the people of its time, let alone ours?”

Lauren Forbush, the chair of Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee, told the American Independent Foundation that the group created the national call to action to “raise our voices and to create awareness that we’re still fighting and we won’t back down.”

Forbush added: “But even if the ban is overturned, even if abortion does become legalized, we still need to keep fighting. In Wisconsin specifically, the ground for abortion access before Roe v. Wade was overturned was extremely difficult, especially for rural communities and the Black and brown communities. So one of our demands today is to have federal funding for women’s and reproductive health services, and then also free contraceptives for all, and to overturn state statute 940.04.”

Section 940.04 of chapter 940 of the Wisconsin Statutes, “Crimes Against Life and Bodily Security,” criminalizes physicians and other health care practitioners for providing abortion care.

“It’s really astounding that we’re in 2023, and we’ve had Roe fall. It’s just incredible that our rights are being stripped from us the way they have been, so just out championing for people,” Star told the American Independent Foundation.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.