Wisconsin Right to Life announced endorsement for Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Green Bay, Tuesday stating WRTL's Political Action Committee's belief in protecting all human life strongly matched Green's views.
We have a long history of working with Mark Green on legislative issues,\ said Susan Armacost, director of WRTL/PAC. ""Our political action committee will be working very hard on his behalf.""
Armacost said there is no question where both Green and current Gov. Jim Doyle stand on abortion, and voters will have a clear choice in November.
Mark Vernon, campaign manager for Green, said Green is pleased with the endorsement and strongly believes in an anti-abortion stance.
""As long as Roe is on the books, he thinks that we need to do a better job of relying on the science to argue our position,"" Vernon said. ""Congressman Green thinks that medicine is making it tougher and tougher to argue that an unborn child is anything but an unborn child.""
Kelda Roys, executive director of NARAL Pro-choice Wisconsin, said citizens are very likely to lose core protections of Roe v. Wade in the near future.
""There is agreement in the reproductive rights community and among anti-choice groups that reproductive rights are under serious threat,"" Roys said.
Roys said her organization is planning to endorse Doyle in his reelection campaign and urges voters to support the abortion rights candidate.
""Anyone who's concerned about women's health, preventative care, birth control and healthy child bearing really has no clearer choice than supporting Gov. Doyle,"" she said.
The recent South Dakota legislation to penalize doctors who perform abortions is similar to a current Wisconsin statute that would fine and jail doctors if Roe is overturned.
""In South Dakota, doctors can go to jail for up to five years and be fined $10,000. Here in Wisconsin [if overturned], doctors can be fined up to $50,000 and be imprisoned for up to 15 years,"" Roys said.
Armacost said WRTL/PAC has fought three attempts to repeal the law, keeping it on the books.
""We are one of only four states in the nation that have a pre- Roe v. Wade law on the books that would come back into effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned,"" Armacost said.
Although abortion has historically been a dividing factor in many political races and tends to be a heated issue in an election, UW-Madison professor of Sociology Myra Marx Ferree said it is too early to tell what type of issues will draw people to the polls this November.
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