The Quickie: Judge Janet Protasiewicz and Abortion Rights Win Big in Wisconsin

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

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In today’s Quickie: Judge Protasiewicz wins in WI, Gov. Whitmer signs repeal of 1931 abortion ban, anti-abortion and anti-trans activists are one and the same, and states move to silence opposition protests.

JUDGE JANET PROTASIEWICZ AND ABORTION RIGHTS WIN BIG IN WISCONSIN: Last night, Wisconsin voters decisively elected Judge Janet Protasiewicz to a 10-year term on the state’s supreme court. The historic election saw the highest voter turnout for a state supreme court race in a non-presidential primary year, with reproductive freedom once again motivating many voters to turn out. The critical election sends Judge Protasiewicz to the bench during a moment where everything from abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, voting rights, and democracy itself is on the line and will likely come across the supreme court’s desk. 

“By electing Judge Janet Protasiewicz to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Wisconsinites once again affirmed their support for reproductive freedom and proved the enduring political salience of abortion rights,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said. “Judge Janet Protasiewicz's victory is especially critical as the legality of the state's archaic 1849 criminal abortion, which has forced Wisconsinites to leave the state for abortion care or to remain pregnant against their will, is likely to make its way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.”

“The results send a clear message: Wisconsinites are committed to reproductive freedom and upholding our state’s proud tradition of civic engagement, even in the face of politicized attempts to undermine their right to vote,” Steven Webb II, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, said. “We congratulate Judge Protasiewicz on her victory tonight and look forward to the balance and integrity she will bring to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. … This election cycle, PPAWI staff and volunteers engaged deeply with young voters, particularly on college campuses, educating voters on the issues and how to participate in our democracy. We want to thank our team and those that made their voice heard on Election Day.”

Read more at CNN. 

GOV. WHITMER OFFICIALLY REPEALS MICHIGAN’S 1931 ABORTION BAN: In more good news out of the midwest, today Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill officially repealing  the state’s 1931 criminal abortion ban. Although the ban was already nullified by voters’ resounding approval of Proposition 3 in November that enshrined reproductive rights in the state constitution, today’s repeal is an important step to permanently protect abortion rights in Michigan. 

“With the repeal of Michigan’s 1931 criminal abortion ban, Michigan continues to lead the way in the fight to restore our fundamental right to access abortion,” said Nicole Wells Stallworth, Vice President of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood of Michigan. “We are grateful to Governor Whitmer and reproductive health champions in the legislature who have worked to remove this dangerous and unconstitutional abortion ban from Michigan’s law books. Abortion providers will no longer have to fear they will be criminally prosecuted for delivering the essential, life-saving health care their patients need and deserve."

Read more at WWMT. 

COPYCAT: ANTI-ABORTION AND ANTI-TRANS ACTIVISTS ARE USING THE SAME PLAYBOOK: Yesterday, New York Magazine highlighted the ways in which attacks on abortion and trans rights are part of a coordinated effort to limit people’s bodily autonomies. These activists often use similar tactics including co-opting feminist language and explicitly imitating prominent reproductive rights organizations’ branding. Both movements began by targeting minors’ right to abortion and gender-affirming care. They also spread misinformation, elevate obscure stories to perpetuate their hostile narratives, and take advantage of people’s lack of scientific knowledge on health care procedures to spread lies. Often, the groups involved in anti-abortion litigation and legislation are the same ones leading the recent explosion in anti-trans bills like bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth. 

As reporter Irin Carmon notes, “All of this is to say the same small group of people who have made abortion almost impossible in swaths of the country (and aren’t done yet) are now trying to ban trans health care. So far, the same playbook — which comes down to fomenting moral panic around the most vulnerable and co-opting progressive tropes to help fuel it — is working well for them.” 

Read more at New York Magazine. 

DON’T TALK THAT TALK: STATES MOVE TO SILENCE OPPOSITION PROTESTS: This week a deeply disturbing trend of anti-democratic state lawmakers attempting to silence protest against deeply unpopular policies has emerged. 

• In Florida on Monday, at least 10 peaceful protestors occupying a Tallahassee park in opposition to the state’s proposed six-week abortion ban — including Florida Senate Majority Leader Lauren Book and Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried — were arrested and held for hours. 
• In Tennessee, three state lawmakers face expulsion from the state House of Representatives for joining protests supporting gun safety legislation in the aftermath of The Covenant School shooting in Nashville — one of at least 130 mass shootings in the country as of late March. 
• And in Oklahoma last month, State Rep. Mauree Turner, the country’s first non-binary state legislator, was censured and removed from their committee assignments for allowing a protester into their office in the aftermath of an arrest. Oklahoma lawmakers are considering a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth and effectively eliminating access to the service for trans adults, which drew protestors to Oklahoma City. 

All of these attempts to silence protesters and the state lawmakers who support them are anti-democratic, plain and simple. Anti-abortion politicians will never be satisfied with just limiting our control of our own bodies: they are coming for our basic constitutional rights to self and political expression.