The Nov. 5 election will be the first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and the results could be responsible for how both parties address the issue in future campaigns.
In the 2024 election, Republicans have taken a hard turn, softening their rhetoric on the topic, while Democrats have made it the forefront of their strategy to win Wisconsin races up and down the ballot.
When the Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for the procedure in June 2022, an 1849 law banning abortions with no exception for rape or incest went into effect in Wisconsin, despite a majority of residents approving of abortion until viability.
Voters made their disapproval for the state’s abortion ban clear when they elected liberal-leaning Justice Janet Protasiewicz to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2023.
Abortion services resumed in the state in September 2023 following a Dane County Circuit Court judge’s ruling that the 1849 law applies only to feticide, not consensual abortions.
When addressing abortion, Republicans are now emphasizing exceptions for rape and incest and increased contreceptive access, but they are still doubling down on the court’s decision that abortion is an issue for individual states to decide.
New GOP abortion stance responds to growing unpopularity
The Republican Party also omitted the goal of ending abortion from its party platform for the first time in 40 years reflecting desires to distance themselves from the widely contested issue.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde said during a recent visit to the University of Wisconsin-Madison he believes women should “have the right to make a decision” about abortion “early on in their pregnancy.” Hovde’s stance is a stark departure from that of his previous Senate run in 2012, where he has said he was “totally opposed” to it. However, Hovde said he has no intention to pass laws on abortion at the federal level.
State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has said during a UW-Madison visit in September that he’s open to “finding consensus” on abortion by working to increase access to over-the-counter birth control in Wisconsin.
Both Hovde and Vos have said they believe Wisconsin voters should get to decide on the issue with a statewide referendum.
In October Former President Donald Trump wrote on social media that he would veto a national abortion ban, after refusing to address a question about it during the 2024 Presidential debate debate. However, while President in 2017 he supported an unsuccessful bill drafted by house Republicans that would have implemented a nationwide abortion ban after 20 weeks.
During the debate, Trump said he believes in abortion exceptions for rape and incest but still praised the six conservative-leaning justices, three of whom he appointed, that voted to overturn Roe. He also made false attacks toward Democrats claiming they want extreme pro-abortion policies that support abortion “after the ninth month” of pregnancy.
Vice President Kamala Harris has made restoring abortion rights her top priorities if elected President. She has repeatedly promised to sign a bill codifying abortion rights if passed in Congress and supports ending the Senate filibuster to do so.
Harris has also reiterated Trump’s “hand picked justices” that were responsible for ending abortion as a constitutionally protected right. She repeatedly referred to the laws that went back into effect post-Roe as “Trump Abortion-bans.”
Wisconsin is one of the key swing states that Trump will need to secure the presidency. In 2020, President Joe Biden beat Trump in the state by less than one percent of votes. Trump will need to successfully win over large numbers of women voters to secure the state.
Democrats see abortion as a path forward for Wisconsin elections
Following the election of Protasiewicz, whose campaign focused heavily on abortion rights, Democrats have been capitalizing on the cross-party support for abortion rights by putting the issue at the forefront of several campaigns.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has focused heavily on the issue for her reelection campaign against Hovde on Nov. 5. Whenever addressing abortion publically, Baldwin highlights her authorship of The Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill that seeks to codify abortion rights at the national level restoring the precedent set by Roe v. Wade.
Congressional candidate Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN running for the seat in Wisconsin’s conservative-leaning 8th District, has made abortion the defining issue of her campaign. She has shown unwavering support for restoring abortion rights nationwide and previously told The Daily Cardinal that her race could be the “national referendum on abortion rights.”
Additionally, 3rd District congressional candidate Rebecca Cooke has publicly criticized her opponent U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s anti-abortion remarks, claiming he wants to ban abortion nationwide without exceptions for rape and incest. Cooke’s race is considered one of the most competitive congressional races in the country and is a prime target for flipping the U.S. House of Representatives.
Iain Chang is a senior staff writer at The Daily Cardinal covering state news and politics.
