Life after Roe in Wisconsin

Life after Roe in Wisconsin

The anticipation is over. Nationally and in Wisconsin, we are turning a page on the abortion issue. All you have to do is read the last few lines on the first page of the two-hundred-plus page opinion to know the essence of what the US Supreme Court decided: “Held: The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”

Those are powerful, long-awaited words—and we praise God for His goodness and grace to us in giving us this decision.

To clarify, overruling Roe and the 1992 Casey decision that affirmed a woman’s so-called “right to an abortion” means that each state now must deal with the issue as was the case before the Supreme Court concocted a “right” to abortion in 1973.

Wisconsin is one of a dozen states that has a pre‑Roe law on the books. Ours dates back to 1849, one year after we became a state. This law criminalizes most abortions in our state, with one exception—the “life of the mother,” which isn’t clearly defined in the law. For many years, pro-life citizens and organizations have worked hard to keep this law on the books for this exact time.

Nothing prevents this law from right now being enforceable. Apparently, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin also believes that because within hours of the decision being released last Friday, the state’s largest abortion provider quit doing abortions at its three abortion-providing facilities.

But nothing about this issue is simple, largely because of entrenched worldviews and political aspirations. Months ago, Democrat Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced he would not enforce the law if Roe were overturned. In recent days, he’s reiterated that position.

Additionally, a number of county district attorneys have said they won’t bring changes against someone who violates the law. And over the weekend, Governor Tony Evers announced that he will give clemency to any doctor charged with breaking the 173-year-old law, which means, in essence, he’s pardoning criminals in advance of their being sentenced.

In addition to all this, Governor Evers (D) asked, and Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) was happy to comply, that a lawsuit be filed challenging the enforceability of the law. Obviously, enforcement of this abortion ban isn’t a slam-dunk.

Further, the left is going to use the overturning of Roe to energize their base for this fall’s election. They want to keep Evers as governor and Kaul as AG and flip both the Assembly and Senate from Republican majorities to Democrat. If that happens, the 1849 abortion ban will be gone by late January.

For years, Democrats in the state legislature have been introducing bills to get rid of every abortion regulation we have—24-hour waiting period, woman’s right to know, 20-week abortion ban, ultrasound requirement, telemedicine ban and more. The surest way to have abortion on demand in our state is a sweeping liberal victory in November. The money was already coming in to accomplish that prior to the Dobbs decision. As wonderful as that decision is, it added fuel to the liberals’ zeal.

The foregoing doesn’t have to happen. We can remain a state where human life is protected. It will take commitment and work.

We need to foster a culture of life by practicing radical love and compassion toward expecting mothers who are in difficult situations. Churches and their members need to offer help and hope to abortion-vulnerable women and men by donating to crisis pregnancy centers, giving directly to mothers in need, or simply walking with those who are hurting.

We must also speak the truth in love about the unborn. Debates surrounding this issue will become more intense, and pro-lifers need to be equipped with the facts and prepared to defend the sanctity of life at all times.

Lastly, the surest way to keep the pro-life momentum going in Wisconsin is by electing the right leaders this fall. We have an opportunity to ensure that Christ-centered representatives lead our state in the right direction and protect life by voting in this year’s upcoming election and encouraging like-minded people to join us.

We’ve been given a gift; now we must protect it.

 

Waiting for Dobbs

Waiting for Dobbs

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We are still waiting for the Supreme Court to release its final decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which could overturn Roe v. Wade.

We expect to receive the decision no later than next Wednesday, unless the court decides to wait until after the July 4th holiday, which has been speculated. 

Tensions are high. Over 35,000 people were on SCOTUSBlog Thursday morning! That number will grow now that we are down to just nine cases left to be released before the end of the court’s session, one of which is Dobbs.

Please pray for this case and for the safety of our justices. After the Dobbs draft leaked, revealing that the court is poised to overturn Roe, the left erupted in violence. They attacked our office and several other pro-life organizations. Domestic terrorist group Jane’s Revenge has declared “open season” on pro-life groups that refuse to back down.

The left has also protested outside of the justices’ homes in order to intimidate them into submission. One individual even traveled across the country to Justice Kavanaugh’s home with the intent of assassinating him. We expect this violence to only increase in the aftermath of Roe.

In the coming days, “Watch for the revelation of the spirit of murder that fuels the fires of abortion. And then remember: these arsonists and protesters and terrorists are doing this because they can no longer terminate the life of their child in the womb. They are furious and violent because they cannot do violence to their own flesh and blood. What kind of madness is this?” writes Dr. Michael Brown.

We will clearly see, as we have already, which side is influenced by the spirit of life and which group is motivated by the spirit of death. Only one side espouses compassion and care while the other espouses violence.

While the left responds in anger, our response must always be love. We should never resort to threats and intimidation, but show respect for every individual by appealing to reason and working to transform hearts and minds.

Debates surrounding this issue will become more intense, and we need to be equipped with the facts and prepared to defend the sanctity of life at all times.

Think about what you can do to help create a culture of life in Wisconsin in a post-Roe world. We need to practice radical love and compassion toward expecting mothers who are in difficult situations. We must also speak the truth in love about the unborn and create a culture of deep care for all life.

Once Roe is overturned, there will still be much work to be done. Through intentional discipleship, we need to undo the culture of death that Roe fostered.

We have 5000 copies of “Thinking Clearly After Roe: A Five-Part Strategy Moving Forward,” which we will make available to folks at no charge. Contact us to receive your copy!

Please pray that God continues to guide and strengthen the pro-life movement regardless of what the Dobbs decision brings.

WI Democrats react to Dobbs leak

WI Democrats react to Dobbs leak

Earlier this week, Politico dropped a bombshell by publishing a leaked draft of an early decision in the Dobbs Supreme Court case.

In an opinion dated February 10, 2022, Justice Alito writes, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled.” Boom! With those nine words, the liberals’ became unhinged in our state and across the country. 

Unsurprisingly, Wisconsin Democrats expressed their outrage and made egregious demands in response. 

Gov. Tony Evers announced on Twitter that he is urging Congress to take action to combat the Court’s potential decision. “Today, I’m leading a coalition of 17 governors to call on Congress to immediately protect access to abortion and reproductive rights. We cannot wait for #SCOTUS to overturn #RoeVWade. We need action now, and we need to pass the #WHPA,” he tweeted. 

WHPA is the so-called “Women’s Health Protection Act.” Of course, abortion is not health care for either women or their unborn babies.

Once again, Evers is ignoring the will of the Wisconsin people. He is removing power from voters in order to perpetuate the most violent and evil human rights violation of our lifetime. 

Wisconsin Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, a Democrat who is running for US Senate this cycle, released a similar statement, saying, “It has never been more clear why we need to abolish the [US Senate]filibuster and take immediate action to protect every person’s right to make decisions about their own bodies. Republicans have proven they will stop at nothing to strip every individual of their right to an abortion. We must act now.”

Both of these supposed “leaders” erroneously deem abortion a “right.”  And Barnes isn’t even willing to use the word woman. Instead, he refers to “every person’s right” and “every individual of their right to an abortion.” 

Topping all this off, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul blatantly said this week if Roe is overturned, that “[a]s long as [he’s] attorney general, we will not be using any resources” to enforce Wisconsin’s pre-Roe law that criminalizes most abortions—a law we have successfully kept on the books since 1849. Kaul, a Democrat, is up for re-election this fall. Enforcing and upholding Wisconsin law is the main job of our attorney general. 

The left is denying reality in a number of ways. While refusing to properly define a woman, they fail to recognize that murder is objectively evil and that the right to life is the only right that exists in this case. Simply calling something a right does not make it one, and no one has the right to kill an innocent child. 

President Biden also joined the conversation and further revealed the moral depravity of the left: “So, the idea that we’re going to make a judgment that is going to say that no one can make the judgment to choose to abort a child based on a decision by the Supreme Court … goes way overboard,” said Biden during a press conference about the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade. (Emphasis added.)

Probably without realizing it, Biden admits in his statement that abortion ends the life of a child, yet he is still in favor of it. It seems the task at hand now is no longer to convince the left that children in the womb are in fact children, but that murder of innocent life is always wrong. This is what happens when we remove God, the only source of objective truth and morality, from our culture. 

We need leaders who will honor their commitment to serving their constituents. It’s clear that Evers, Barnes, and Biden are far more concerned with their own ideologies and pacifying their base than respecting traditional legal processes or the will of the people, not to mention respecting the lives of unborn children.  

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, control over abortion laws will simply return to the states, giving the people a greater voice. If our leaders truly cared about our constitutional republic and the principles of federalism, they would support the overturning of Roe

This fall we have an opportunity to have a say in Wisconsin about what kind of leadership we have in our governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. Will we replace the current pro-abortion office holders with pro-life, pro-women individuals? That’s up to us and our willingness to get involved in really meaningful ways – that includes voting, but also going beyond our personal vote to engage many others.