Here & Now

Reactions to Roe v. Wade Reversal

Frederica Freyberg:

The U.S. Supreme Court today overturned the 50-year precedent case Roe v. Wade in what’s being called a ruling for the ages. And with it, the generation-long fight on the part of anti-abortion advocates and activists to end legal abortions. Laws around access to abortion now turn to the states. We turn to Gracie Skogman, legislative director at Wisconsin Right to Life for her reaction. And thanks very much for being here.

Gracie Skogman:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

What is your reaction to the ruling?

Gracie Skogman:

We are absolutely overjoyed. The pro-life movement has been advocating for the protection of preborn life and the overturning of Roe for decades. So it’s hard to even believe that this day has come.

Frederica Freyberg:

In Wisconsin, we know that there is a law on the books predating Roe that criminalizes abortion. Do you expect to work to tighten that even more?

Gracie Skogman:

Our focus right now is calling on our attorney general and district attorneys to ensure that that law is effective at saving lives. But we are certainly willing and preparing for further action we can take legislatively if more needs to be done to protect preborn lives. But I think our main focus is really on supporting women who are facing these challenging or unexpected pregnancies. We realize that they will be in need of support, potentially medical care, housing, all of those concerns, and we want to increase the efforts of the pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes so that they are able to fill in the gap for those women.

Frederica Freyberg:

What about recent Wisconsin polling that says 31% favor overturning Roe while a full 69% opposed striking it down? Does public opinion matter on this issue to you?

Gracie Skogman:

I think that the extraordinary thing about Roe being overturned is the decision regarding abortion access now returns to the states. So we can have those conversations in Wisconsin and it will certainly be an important issue going into the elections. And our work at Wisconsin Right to Life is to change hearts and minds. So we will continue to educate on the reality of abortion, and hopefully by providing women with loving, supportive options, they will want to choose life.

Frederica Freyberg:

Now, a moment ago you spoke to the idea that your first priority is to work with the attorney general, Josh Kaul, to make sure that this law on the books in Wisconsin is enforced. He has said he would not enforce it. What about that?

Gracie Skogman:

We believe and know fundamentally that his role is to enforce our laws. So of course, we’re not shocked that he is saying that. And I think that this will be a longer conversation and battle that we are willing to fight here in Wisconsin if he is not willing to enforce the law. And again, it comes back to the importance of our elections in the fall. There are many pro-life candidates who are running to take his place, to take our governor’s place, and would be willing to protect these children.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Gracie Skogman, Wisconsin Right to Life, thanks very much.

Gracie Skogman:

Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

Wisconsin Right to Life says it is not in favor of removing the medical emergency exception in Wisconsin law. For advocates of access to legal abortion, the ruling overturning Roe v. Wade is devastating. Tanya Atkinson is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and thanks very much for being here.

Tanya Atkinson:

Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

So you have called this a devastating ruling that hands women’s healthcare decisions over to politicians. When this ruling came down this morning, what happened in your clinics in Wisconsin?

Tanya Atkinson:

That was exactly what happened. We had people in our waiting room in our health centers and when the ruling came down, our team had to go out into the lobby and let those individuals know that they — excuse me, would not be able to access the healthcare that they needed. Those individuals that had made a decision for themselves, their families, their health, had to be told that rather than making that decision, that they had already made, that instead, someone else had made that decision for them and they wouldn’t be able to access that care. And we worked to try to find them an appointment in other states where abortion is still safe and legal.

Frederica Freyberg:

What were the reactions of the women in the waiting room when told of this news and what it meant for them?

Tanya Atkinson:

Yeah, the reactions — you know, it was — it was — it was traumatic for some people. You know, to be able to — you know, to not be able to access this care that they had contemplated and decided that they needed for their health or their future.

Frederica Freyberg:

What kind of help can Planned Parenthood offer to women seeking abortion services including those who had to be essentially turned away today?

Tanya Atkinson:

Yeah, thank you. We had 70 patients with appointments over the next couple of days. And these are our friends. These are our families. These are our neighbors. And this is the human impact of these policy decisions. Even in the face of the reality that the majority of Wisconsinites think access to abortion should be safe and legal. Thank you for the question, because Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin remains open across the state and if somebody needs an abortion, we ask that they contact us and we can help them in a variety of different ways. We can provide some of the healthcare that is not specifically abortion. We have navigators that specifically can help them both find appointments as well as financial resources that they might need. And we will be there for people when they return home again for any aftercare or any of the array of other services that we provide.

Frederica Freyberg:

Planned Parenthood says it does not believe Wisconsins 1849 abortion law is enforceable and is exploring legal options. Like what?

Tanya Atkinson:

Well, there’s a number of legal options that we’re looking at. And we’re looking at all of them that are available. At this point it is not worth risking the liberty and freedom of our healthcare providers. And so that’s why we paused services.

Frederica Freyberg:

Tanya Atkinson, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, thank you very much.

Tanya Atkinson:

Thank you so much, take care.