The Fall of Roe and Protecting Our Privacy

In June 2022, for the first time in U.S. history, the Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of removing a fundamental right that had previously been recognized for the citizens of this country. Because of this decision, millions of people will now have a private medical decision criminalized. 

This decision does not “just” restore power to the states for the people of those states to decide whether they want abortion to be criminalized. It sends private medical decisions to states where the majority doesn’t elect their government anymore thanks to gerrymandering. It creates a legally unworkable web of laws that may very well result in our privacy rights being invaded by the state to ensure that an abortion has not taken place. It changes how people have to live their lives.

The government does not belong in the private medical decisions of citizens of this country. Whether to have an abortion is a health care decision that is to be made by the person who is pregnant and whomever they decide to include in making their deeply personal choice. 

Congress has failed to codify Roe, despite Americans’ overwhelming support for the fundamental right to privacy and access to abortion care. 

Now, millions of people across the country are stripped of their ability to self-determination and freedom. Here in Wisconsin, abortion is almost entirely banned due to an outdated law on the books from 1849 — meaning if your pregnancy isn’t life-threatening, you cannot access abortion care in your home state. And it requires doctors and hospitals to risk a lawsuit every time they perform an abortion, just because somebody may disagree with the assessment that the mother’s life was threatened. This is already leading to delays and denials of necessary services that are having tragic consequences.

The effects of the fall of Roe and Wisconsin’s near-total abortion ban are already devastating, and could have been avoided had Congress and Rep. Fitzgerald listened to their constituents, and made the choice to act, codifying Roe as the law of the land. Moving forward we need to elect representatives interested in preserving the rights of all citizens, not just the ones who agree with us. 

As your next Congressman, I am dedicated to ensuring people have the ability to exercise bodily autonomy, the right to self-determination, and keeping the government out of private healthcare decisions. Not only will I show up for you, I will fight for you, your rights, your families, and everyone’s futures. YOU deserve better.