June 8, 2022 — Today, Governor Evers called a Special Session of the legislature requesting they take up the Abortion Rights Preservation Act, which would repeal Wisconsin’s 173-year-old criminal abortion ban. The Special Session will take place on June 22. If the legislature does not repeal the abortion ban, access to safe and legal abortion could disappear in Wisconsin if the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) overturns Roe v. Wade when issuing the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson in the coming weeks. Now is the time to contact your legislator to tell them to Vote to preserve access to safe and legal abortion in Wisconsin.
Please take the following action today:
- Call your legislator today and urge them to Vote to repeal Wisconsin’s criminal abortion ban in the Special Session on June 22! You can identify who represents you here. See below for suggested talking points.
- Today I ask Representative/Senator _____ to take up the Abortion Rights Preservation Act and repeal Wisconsin’s criminal abortion ban in the Special Session on June 22.
- If the legislature does not repeal the abortion ban, access to safe and legal abortion could disappear in Wisconsin if the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) overturns Roe v. Wade.
- This will not only have devastating consequences for sexual violence survivors, but the impacts will fall disproportionately on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, who would be denied access to safe abortion services.
- In addition to its long-lasting trauma, sexual violence is about domination and control over another person’s body. Consequently, it is important to offer survivors opportunities to regain that control by empowering them to make their own decisions – particularly regarding their body and reproductive health. If Wisconsin’s criminal abortion ban is not repealed, a survivor who becomes pregnant after an assault may be forced to seek an unregulated abortion or to carry their perpetrator’s child to term. This will re-victimize survivors and impeded their long-term recovery.
- If access to safe and legal abortion disappears in Wisconsin, the impacts will disproportionately fall on BIPOC communities, who have long-faced barriers in accessing the full range of reproductive health care services. This is further compounded by disparities that impact BIPOC survivors, including the disproportionate burden of sexual violence, a lack of culturally responsive advocacy services, and increased barriers in social, health and legal systems.
- Reproductive health, including access to abortion, has long been identified a critical issue for survivors and as the basis for sexual violence prevention. Individuals need to have decision-making authority over their own bodies, whether it is the choice to participate in sexual activity, to use birth control, or to terminate a pregnancy. Any restriction on access to abortion sends a strong message to pregnant people that your body is not your own.