June 24, 2022 | MacIver News Service
By Bill Osmulski
The US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, June 24, 2022, and abortion is once again illegal in Wisconsin, just as it had been before 1973.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote the 6-3 majority opinion, returning the abortion debate back to the states. He was joined in that decision by Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. Chief Justice Roberts filed a separate concurring opinion. Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan issued a dissenting opinion.
Justice Alito wrote “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision. It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
Guided by the history and tradition that map the essential components of the Nation’s concept of ordered liberty, the Court finds the Fourteenth Amendment clearly does not protect the right to an abortion. Until the latter part of the 20th century, there was no support in American law for a constitutional right to obtain an abortion. No state constitutional provision had recognized such a right. Until a few years before Roe, no federal or state court had recognized such a right. Nor had any scholarly treatise. Indeed, abortion had long been a crime in every single State. At common law, abortion was criminal in at least some stages of pregnancy and was regarded as unlawful and could have very serious consequences at all stages. American law followed the common law until a wave of statutory restrictions in the 1800s expanded criminal liability for abortions. By the time the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, three-quarters of the States had made abortion a crime at any stage of pregnancy. This consensus endured until the day Roe was decided. Roe either ignored or misstated this history, and Casey declined to reconsider Roe’s faulty historical analysis.
Respondents’ argument that this history does not matter flies in the face of the standard the Court has applied in determining whether an asserted right that is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution is nevertheless protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
From the DOBBS v. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION decision, page 3
Wisconsin liberals have long dreaded this day.
“This is an unfathomably grim day for our state and our country. I am heartbroken—for the millions of Wisconsinites and Americans the U.S. Supreme Court has abandoned,” Gov. Tony Evers stated.
Rep. Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) called the Supreme Court’s decision “a brazen, political act that rolls back essential human rights.”
“This is an unfathomably grim day for our state and our country,” Evers said.
“This is a dark day for women, a dark day for the Supreme Court, and a dark day for democracy. The long but crucial road to restoring abortion rights starts now,” Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) said.
However, there was great rejoicing among conservatives.
“I’m proudly pro-life. Today’s decision will bring this important issue back to the states. This is a great victory for life,” Congressman Bryan Steil (R-Janesville) said.
“This is a massive victory for the sanctity of life in our Nation,” State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said. “The Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision restores lawmaking authority to the states and finally gives Wisconsin voters a voice in how they want to protect the most vulnerable.”
“Safeguarding the lives of unborn children shouldn’t be controversial. Today’s decision reaffirms their lives are precious and worthy of protection,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester).
Like today’s conservatives, Wisconsin’s founders believed that abortion is an intrinsic evil, which is why they banned abortion almost immediately after Wisconsin became a state. It remained in effect for 124 years. (The only social issue they felt more strongly about was slavery, which was banned in the state’s constitution.)
The federal government did not weigh in on abortion until 1973, which meant states had the final say on the issue within their borders. Then, in 1973, the US Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that the right to due process under the 14th Amendment extended to the right of a woman to have an abortion. With that decision, every state law that banned abortion was immediately nullified… or perhaps more accurately, they went dormant. Many states like Wisconsin left the law on the books just in case Roe v. Wade was overturned. That day is finally here, and abortion is once again illegal in Wisconsin – no exceptions.
Like today’s conservatives, Wisconsin’s founders believed that abortion is an intrinsic evil.
Wisconsin Democrats anticipated this scenario years ago, and have made repeated attempts over the years to repeal Wisconsin’s 1849 law. Most recently, in January 2021, Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) and Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) introduced a bill they called the “Abortion Rights Preservation Act.” Most Wisconsin Democrat Lawmakers signed on to it. The bill never even got a hearing.
Later that year, on May 17, 2021, the US Supreme Court announced it would review a case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. An abortion provider in Mississippi sued the state over its ban on abortions after 15 weeks with no exceptions. That gave the Supreme Court the opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade, and it was widely expected for that to happen.
“We knew this dark day was coming,” Roys said at the time.
A year later, in May 2022, a draft of the decision was leaked to out to the press. It was an unprecedented breach of trust between the Justices and the bureaucrats on staff. Liberals became frantic and began applying direct pressure on the Justices to change their minds before making the decision official. They protested at the Justices’ homes and threatened them and their families. One man was arrested on his way to kidnap, torture, and murder Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Afterward, 27 Democrats in Congress voted against providing the Justices with extra security.
In Wisconsin, liberals were equally frantic.
“This is a heinous attack on one of America’s most sacred cornerstones: the right to bodily autonomy,” said Sen. Melissa Agard (D-Madison).
Agard helped rally high school students at the state Capitol on May 13th in support of free abortions on demand.
Meanwhile, the liberal terrorist organization “Janes Revenge” picked Wisconsin to announce its presence. They firebombed Wisconsin Family Action’s office in Madison on May 8th. The investigation by local law enforcement went nowhere, even though Jane’s Revenge immediately took credit for the attack.
Jane’s Revenge didn’t just target Wisconsin. It’s attacked pro-life centers across the country, but the FBI has failed to make any arrests. Instead, it’s warning those groups to brace for more attacks now that the Supreme Court’s decision is out.
BREAKING: The Department of Homeland Security is communicating with Catholic Churches and pregnancy centers, telling them to be prepared for a “Night of Rage” by pro-abortion groups pledging “extreme violence” the night of the Dobbs decision.
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) June 23, 2022
Local law enforcement will probably be just as apathetic. On June 21, 2022, the Madison City Council passed a resolution that the police department should not enforce Wisconsin’s abortion ban once it goes back into effect. It should simply refer any complaints to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, which is under the control of Gov. Tony Evers.
For Evers, abortion is practically a religion. He once called it “blasphemy” after President Donald Trump called abortion the act of executing a baby. Evers refers to the 1973 Supreme Court decision as to the “law of the land,” even though Congress never passed a law to make abortion legal.
For Evers, abortion is practically a religion.
Evers is potentially the most pro-abortion governor in the country. On May 3rd, Gov. Evers was the first of 17 governors to sign a letter urging the US Senate to pass a law to codify Roe v. Wade.
Additionally, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul says he will not enforce Wisconsin’s abortion ban
Kaul joined 23 other state attorneys general in an amicus brief claiming that it is unconstitutional to ban abortion, backing the original claim that it is protected under the 14th Amendment. They also unintelligible claim that allowing states to decide whether or not to allow abortion would be a violation of states’ rights.
The Supreme Court, on the other hand, rejected those claims.
Alito’s Supreme Court majority opinion: “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision..It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”
— Joel Griffith (@joelgriffith) June 24, 2022
Even though liberals embedded in the state and local government will not enforce the law, it is still a priority for them to repeal it.
Gov. Evers called the legislature into a special session on June 22nd to repeal that law, which he called an “archaic criminal abortion ban.” The legislature predictably gaveled in and gaveled out, taking no action.
After Republicans made it clear they will not allow people to kill their own unborn children, Evers lashed out “they are helping to ensure our kids and grandkids grow up in a world where they have fewer rights then we did.”
Senator Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) countered, “If we breach the established doctrine of individual rights at the point of when life begins, even if the circumstances around that life are less than ideal, or even outright terrible, we infringe upon the rights of that individual and it becomes a dangerous world where government decides who is worthy of living.”
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin made June 25th the last day to get an abortion in Wisconsin. According to Wisconsin law, it must cancel all those remaining appointments. Evers and his fellow Democrats vowed to fight on to make abortion legal.