With the help of a Democratic majority in the state legislature, state Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison, hopes to overturn a 19th century Wisconsin statute that criminalizes abortion.
The law made abortion illegal in Wisconsin but underwent some changes in the 1980s.
There are two different statutes. A later statute in 1984 indeed removed penalties for women if they underwent an abortion. The problem is the original statute still has serious penalties for doctors,"" Berceau said.
She said her motivation for pushing this appeal is to safeguard Wisconsin's laws in case Roe v. Wade is ever repealed at the national level.
Susan Armacost, legislative director for the anti-abortion group Wisconsin Right to Life, said her organization would work to uphold the law's current standing, even though the current legislature is now mostly Democratic.
""We have been the lead organization for years in defending that law and making sure that it did not get repealed,"" Armacost said. ""We'll be doing everything we need to do in the legislature to make sure that law remains in the law books.""
Carmen Marg-Patton, NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin's political and program director, said NARAL supports Berceau with her push to repeal the statute. She said this law has a good chance to be appealed in the next session.
After the election, Wisconsin gained 10 new pro-choice representatives in the state Assembly, and Marg-Patton said she anticipates the leadership in the Assembly to be pro-choice.
""We also have a pro-choice Senate and a pro-choice governor,"" Marg-Patton said. ""We think the climate is right to pass legislation repealing Wisconsin's criminal abortion ban, and also taking the protections of Roe v. Wade and putting them in state law.""
Armacost said she did not know why Berceau wants to repeal the statute, especially because of Roe vs. Wade's status.
""There is no chance [President-elect Barack Obama] is going to appoint the one needed justice that would be [necessary] to overturn Roe vs. Wade,"" she said.
According to Marg-Patton, NARAL has concerns that Roe vs. Wade could be overturned at any time.
Berceau said her main objective is to protect a woman's right to choose.
""A woman's health and her decisions should be between her and her doctor and her partner,"" Berceau said. ""To me, that's the bottom line.
