After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, which overturned Roe v. Wade, Wisconsin saw immediate changes. Abortion services halted due to an 1849 state law, only to resume in late 2023 after a judge’s ruling. This legal whiplash has kept the issue at the forefront of political discourse.

“Even now, there’s a lot of confusion about what is allowable and what institutions are comfortable with,” said Jenny Higgins, director of UW-Madison’s Collaborative for Reproductive Equity.

The abortion debate is playing a crucial role in both state and national races. In Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate race, the contrast between candidates is stark. Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has been a vocal advocate for abortion rights.

“I am the leader in the fight to restore Roe v. Wade through a bill that I lead called the Women’s Health Protection Act,” she said.

Baldwin’s bill would codify the right to abortion into federal law, and ban states from passing additional restrictions to abortion access.

“I agree that early on in a woman’s pregnancy, she should have a right to choose,” said Eric Hovde, the Republican challenger to the U.S. Senate seat. He has a different take.

“Where I draw a very distinct line different than Sen. Baldwin is that there comes a point where a baby can be born healthy and alive, that it’s unconscionable that you would terminate that child’s life,” Hovde said.

Hovde’s position reflects a broader trend among Republican candidates grappling with the issue’s complexity: a focus on late-term abortions.

“We know the overwhelming majority of abortions take place within the first trimester, said Higgins, who notes third trimester abortions are rare.

“Abortions that happen later than the first trimester happen for excellent reasons,” she said.

These reasons include fetal anomalies that aren’t detectable in the first trimester, and can be fatal to the fetus.

In the 2024 presidential race, former President Donald Trump has gone as far as to erroneously say his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris supports murdering babies.

“Her vice presidential pick says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth, it’s an execution. No longer abortion because the baby is born is OK. And that’s not OK with me,” said Trump of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who signed a new abortion rights bill into law in the state in January 2023.

Harris, in her bid for president, visited Wisconsin to highlight her administration’s stance on abortion.

“What these kinds of laws mean — these kinds of laws under Trump abortion bans — it means doctors may have to wait until the patient is at death’s door before they take any action.”

Gracie Skogman, legislative director of Wisconsin Right to Life, says Harris’s rhetoric ignores the crux of anti-abortion advocates’ philosophy.

“It’s our mission to remind people that we’re talking about two lives in the equation, both deserving of care,” said Skogman, who added her team is activating voters across the state to understand that abortion law is on the ballot.

“We have some groups that are in the Appleton area, and we want people to be aware of candidates who are running and what their record is,” Skogman said.

Appleton is part of Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional district, where the abortion issue is a key topic in the race between Democratic candidate Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB/GYN and abortion provider, and Republican candidate Tony Wied, a businessman endorsed by Trump.

“We need to provide national protection for abortion, contraception, IVF,” said Lyerly.
Meanwhile, Wied has pointed out a states’ rights approach.

“The Supreme Court made the decision that the right of abortion is within the state’s hands where it was before it is now, and I believe that it should continue to stay as a state’s right issue,” Wied said.

Skogman said this focus on a states’ rights approach ignores several legal levers at the federal level.

“For example, right now, the vast majority of abortions are actually chemical abortions, and this is something that’s federally regulated. So that has to be a federal conversation,” she said.

Skogman is referring to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June to preserve access to mifepristone, the drug used in chemical abortions. The case threatened to federally restrict access to chemical abortions, even in states where abortion is legal.

“It’s really important that people understand, I think, the sort of powers of the various offices at the national level,” said Michelle Velasquez, who is chief strategy officer at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

“A president appoints judges who are interpreting laws and hearing lawsuits,” she said,

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has been heading the legal battle over abortion at the state level. They filed a lawsuit in February that the Wisconsin Supreme Court accepted.

“That case will argue that our state constitution would not allow an abortion ban to stand, because our Constitution protects the right to bodily autonomy and agency,” Velasquez said.

The state Supreme Court hasn’t released a schedule for the case, but abortion remains top of mind for Wisconsin voters as they approach the first presidential election since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.