NIRH Cheers Introduction of Wisconsin’s Abortion Access Protection Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2019
Contact: Liza Dee, [email protected]

Statement from Andrea Miller, president, The National Institute for Reproductive Health

Madison, WI – The National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) today called on Wisconsin legislators to support the Abortion Access Protection Act, a bill that would repeal Wisconsin’s criminal abortion ban and enshrine Roe v. Wade into state law. The bill, introduced by Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) and Sen. Fred Risser (D-Madison), stands up to a wave of anti-abortion legislation in other statehouses and comes on the heels of Illinois’ successful passage of the Reproductive Health Act on Friday and of similar legislation signed in New York earlier this year.

Wisconsin is one of nine states with an archaic criminalization statute still on its books 46 years after Roe made the statute unenforceable. Yet if the Court were to overturn or gut the protections afforded by Roe, abortion could again be a criminal offense in Wisconsin – one that could send physicians who provide abortion care to prison. Introduction of this legislation closely follows a joint educational campaign from NIRH and the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health designed to elevate public awareness of the potential criminalization of doctors who provide abortion care.

The following is a statement from Andrea Miller, president of NIRH:

For more than a decade, NIRH has been a leader in the fight to advance reproductive freedom across the country. Recently, they were integral to the successful effort to repeal an outdated criminal abortion ban in Massachusetts, and they led the fight to pass New York’s landmark Reproductive Health Act. Earlier this year, NIRH published a report tracking the passage of more than 100 bills to advance reproductive health, rights, and justice in 27 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.).

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The National Institute for Reproductive Health builds power at the state and local level to change public policy, galvanize public support, and normalize women’s decisions about abortion and contraception.

Using a partnership model, NIRH provides state and local advocates with strategic guidance, hands-on support, and funding to create national change from the ground up. We form strategic partnerships with a wide range of organizations to directly impact the reproductive health and lives of women across the country. Each year, NIRH works with more than 170 reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations in 43 states and 64 localities across the country.