Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez highlighted the importance of the youth vote in Wisconsin and championed abortion rights on behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign in Madison Friday as part of its “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour.
Over 500 people were in attendance at The Orpheum Theater, according to a Harris-Walz campaign official.
“It’s really important that we decide on future-focused issues for young people, whether it’s climate, whether it’s reproductive freedoms or whether it’s freedoms for things like raising the minimum wage and more,” Ocasio-Cortez told The Daily Cardinal.
The crowd welcomed Ocasio-Cortez to the stage, and Wisconsin, with loud cheers. She focused much of her speech on the right to choose and the choices that her family and everyday Americans make each day.
One of the most poignant moments of Ocasio-Cortez’s speech was her recount of her sexual assault while working as a waitress in New York City. Weeks after being sexually assaulted and late on her period, she remembered sitting in a bathroom with a pregnancy test, waiting three minutes to see the result.
“In that moment, in those three minutes, one clear beaming thought went through as I held that stick, ‘Thank God I have a choice,’” she said.
She also reflected on the story of her mother going to a checkup at Planned Parenthood and discovering that she was pregnant with Ocasio-Cortez.
“It was in that clinic looking at that screen and taking stock of everything before her and what she wanted, but she made this decision to choose me,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “What is important to me is that it was her choice.”
In a state where abortion has remained a hotbed issue, the Harris-Walz campaign has continually sought to energize Wisconsin voters on abortion rights.
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and removed constitutional protections for abortion. The decision caused an 1849 Wisconsin law to go back into effect, banning nearly all abortions in the state with no exception for rape or incest.
Opposition to abortion restrictions in Wisconsin played a critical role in securing Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz’s victory last April, tipping the Wisconsin Supreme Court to a 4-3 liberal majority.
During the time when there were no abortion providers in Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers said there was a 330% increase in Wisconsin women traveling across the southern state border to Planned Parenthood of Illinois.
Ocasio-Cortez was joined at the event by activist Kate Cox who was denied emergency abortion care by the Texas Supreme Court last year, forcing her to travel outside of Texas to access abortion care.
“My state chose to drive me out of my home, away from my children and my doctors, rather than to let me access care,” Cox said. “Every day because of these extreme abortion bans, women are going through what I went through, or worse.”
Pro-Palestine Wisconsonites criticize Ocasio-Cortez, Democratic Party on Israel
Three recent University of Wisconsin-Madison graduates with Palestinian keffiyehs over their shoulders, who stood silently in attendance, told the Cardinal they were watched from the moment they stepped in.
Lydia Hester, one of the three, said staffers had been asking others around them whether they had overheard plans to disrupt the event, and Hester was pulled aside at one point to be spoken to about disruptions.
She said staffers made it clear that if the three disrupted the event in any way, they would be arrested immediately.
“[The staffer] pointed to an area and said there would be a police officer stationed right there, watching us,” Hester said.
Near the end of the speech, the three walked to the back, followed by three to four security guards, and they continued to watch the event.
“We decided to put up the banners without saying anything,” Hester said. “Immediately, when we pulled the banners out, they grabbed us pretty forcefully and said, ‘That’s not happening here.’”
The banners read “Free Palestine” and “no money for war crimes.”
“It's important that they understand what is happening in Palestine, because this is no different than what we're talking about inside,” Hester said. “We're talking about sexual assault, which has been happening for 70 plus years in Palestine. There is no health care for women or anyone in the Gaza Strip right now because their entire medical system has been bombed to nothing. These things are not disconnected.”
Kareem Mayouf, another one of the protesters, told the Cardinal the Democrats’ support of Israel has forever tainted the party for him.
“The message we really want to send is that Democrats will not fearmonger and gaslight us and browbeat us into voting for them, because they're the ‘lesser evil,’” Mayouf said. “There's no lesser evil than genocide.”
Wisconsin on the ‘front line’ for abortion
Over and over, the speakers at the event reiterated the fight that would be necessary to win on Nov. 5.
“Wisconsin is on the front line of the fight for reproductive rights, not just for folks in this state, but for people in the [Midwest region],” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We know that we have folks coming from Iowa and Missouri and all places that struggle with access to reproductive rights and access to abortion, but also nationally, because Wisconsin is a must-win state.”
The Harris-Walz campaign has been prioritizing its presence in battleground states like Wisconsin. A recent poll conducted by MassINC Polling Group showed Harris leads former President Donald Trump by seven points in Wisconsin.
The “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour will continue through Wisconsin for the next few days, stopping in Green Bay Saturday then Waukesha Sunday with special guest Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Annika Bereny is a Senior Staff Writer and the former Special Pages Editor for The Daily Cardinal. She has written in-depth for state and campus news. Follow her on Twitter at @annikabereny.
