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Evers, Wisconsin Medical Society react to Roe’s fall

By: Ali Teske//June 24, 2022//

Evers, Wisconsin Medical Society react to Roe’s fall

By: Ali Teske//June 24, 2022//

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Officials and organizations around the state and country are speaking out on the Supreme Court’s historic decision overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Gov. Tony Evers spoke against the decision as earlier this week the Wisconsin State Legislature rejected his effort to repeal Wisconsin’s pre-Roe criminal abortion ban.

“We will fight this decision in every way we can with every power we have. As people in Wisconsin and across our country make their voices heard in the days and months ahead, we will do so peacefully and without violence. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again today: I will never stop fighting to make sure that every single Wisconsinite has the right to consult their family, their faith, and their doctor to make the reproductive healthcare decision that is right for them, and without interference from politicians or members of the Supreme Court who don’t know anything about their life circumstances, values, or responsibilities,” said Evers.

Wisconsin Medical Society called for action and voiced concerns about patient-physician relationships in Wisconsin.

“The Wisconsin Medical Society supports legislation that would acknowledge the right of a physician to perform and give advice on this medical procedure – or refuse to do so according to the physician’s training, experience and conscience…The health and safety of our patients is our top priority. Wisconsin law should reflect that priority and ensure physicians can have full and frank discussions with patients about their health care without fear of imprisonment,” the organization said in a statement.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported in April that the state induced 6,430 abortions in 2020 compared with the 17,886 reported abortions in 1988. The state’s abortion ratio is 10 abortions per 100 live births.

President of the American Bar Association, Reginald Turner revealed that they organization had attempted to aid in upholding Roe.

“In an amicus brief filed in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the ABA had urged the Court to uphold Roe v. Wade and its subsequent line of decisions. The brief cited the extensive legal precedent, the irreparable harm that reversing Roe would cause women and the disproportionate effect of a change in the law on women of color,” said Turner in an official statement. “In addition to supporting reproductive choice, the ABA opposes the criminal prosecution of any person for having an abortion. In light of the Supreme Court’s decision, the ABA has created the Law, Society and the Judiciary Task Force that will address, as appropriate, issues related to the Dobbs decision. It will also examine ways the association can continue its work to enhance respect for the judiciary and advance the Rule of Law.”

Other legal organizations around the country disagree with the decision.

Cary Franklin, faculty director of the UCLA Law Center on Reproductive Health, Law and Policy, said, “The majority opinion holds that the right to abortion is not one of the liberties protected by the U.S. Constitution. In so doing, it strips away federal constitutional protections that have granted generations of American women the right to decide for themselves if and when to grow their families.”

Katie Keith, director of the Health Policy and the Law Initiative at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center called it “nothing short of a death sentence for some women.”

“Access to abortion services, and related services like miscarriage management, will be even more dismal than they are now and will disproportionately burden low-income women and women of color who are already more likely to face barriers to abortion,” said Keith in a statement. “No one should be forced to carry a pregnancy and give birth against their will.”

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