Here & Now

Abortion Laws and Wisconsin's 2026 Candidates for Governor

Frederica Freyberg:
While the Wisconsin Supreme Court has settled the issue of state law surrounding abortion, the medical procedure is not a constitutionally protected right in Wisconsin. So the next Legislature and governor could change the law at any time. As part of our continuing series examining the big issues in the governor’s election, Zac Schultz asked the leading candidates about the topic of abortion.

Marchers:
My choice.

Zac Schultz:
In the nearly four years since the Dobbs decision has returned the issue of abortion to the states, Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Governor Tony Evers were not able to agree on any laws regarding abortion; whether that was time limits, exceptions for rape and incest, or medical definitions for when the life of the mother was in danger. We asked the leading candidates for governor if they would like to see any changes to Wisconsin’s abortion laws.

Kelda Roys:
Yes, and I’ve authored many of them. I believe that abortion and frankly, all health care decisions are personal and individual. Politicians have no role in making those decisions for you. And certainly we cannot allow abortion, contraception, IVF to be criminalized or put doctors under threat when they’re simply providing care. I want to see your freedom to make your own decisions guaranteed in this state.

David Crowley:
Look, I’m a huge champion when it comes down to abortion here in the state of Wisconsin. When I was a state representative in 2017, I coauthored legislation declaring abortion as health care. And as a father of three daughters, being a girl dad times three, it’s important for me to make sure that they have the same rights that their mother and grandmother had, not less. And so I’m going to always be a champion for women’s rights to choose.

Tom Tiffany:
No. So I voted for the current law, which ten years ago when I was in the state Legislature, which is you can have an abortion up to five months. And I voted for that law. And as governor, I will uphold it.

Joel Brennan:
Well, abortion to me is a decision that is best made between a woman and her health care provider. Abortion is health care. And so, you know, I’d like to see us to do things that get politics out of that and ensure that that women and their doctors can make those decisions, educated and informed decisions on their own.

Sara Rodriguez:
What we need to do is to make sure that we enshrine Roe within Wisconsin. That’s what I’ve always been really clear about. I’m, again, a nurse by background. We know that these type of healthcare decisions are best made between a patient and their doctor, and Roe has been something that has kept women safe for decades. And we need to make sure that we have legislation to keep women safe in Wisconsin so that it does not go back and forth between — if we have different leaders –between Republicans and Democrats.

Francesca Hong:
We have to repeal the 1849 abortion ban. And I think abortion freedom is, you know, about health care and democracy as well. And so I think it’s important that we keep in mind that abortion is health care, and that access to that health care has to be equitable.

Mandela Barnes:
And I would love to see this country get back to a pre-Dobbs era, because Roe was the law of the land that was generally accepted by Democrats, of course, but even Republicans who didn’t necessarily like abortion – wasn’t their thing – Roe was sort of a compromise for them and something they felt comfortable with.

Missy Hughes:
I would like to see it proactively protected. Women’s right to choose right now is dependent on court cases, and we need to have a law on the books that protects women’s right to choose, protects women’s rights to take care of everything that they need for their bodies and puts women first in that conversation.

Zac Schultz:
Reporting from Madison, I’m Zac Schultz for “Here & Now.”