Wisconsin Right to Life and Pro-Life Wisconsin are usually on the same side, especially when it comes to abortion. But the two groups have been at odds recently over a proposed state constitutional amendment that would expand the definition of "personhood."
State Rep. Andre Jacque, R-Bellevue, introduced the amendment earlier this month, which would extend the definition of what it means to be a person to the moment of conception.
The Joint Assembly Resolution would remove the word "born" from the phrase "all people are born equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights" in the state constitution.
To change Wisconsin's constitution, two consecutive legislatures must pass the amendment with a two-thirds majority, and then it must be approved by public referendum.
Pro-Life Wisconsin's Legislative Affairs Director Matt Sande said the amendment would correct what he called a "constitutional error" and ensure "Wisconsin children are protected in the event that Roe [v. Wade] is overturned."
"This is the last chapter in the civil rights movement," Sande said.
Wisconsin is one of six states that still has a statute banning surgical abortion, except in cases where pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. Because of the federal Roe v. Wade decision, the statute is unenforceable.
If Roe v. Wade were overturned, however, the statute would immediately take effect.
Jacque said the amendment's intention is to provide "constitutional protection" for the abortion ban statute, so it cannot easily be overturned even if it is challenged in court.
But Sue Armacost, legislative director for WRTL, said the amendment is "just plain wrong for Wisconsin," partly because of concern that, if passed, it could actually threaten the existing abortion ban statute.
If a constitutional amendment is passed, the legislature would then draft enabling legislation to define how the amendment is implemented.
Armacost explained that if the legislative majority identifies as "pro-choice", their enabling legislation could overrule the old abortion ban statute if their interpretation limits the effect of the amendment. Additionally, if the amendment passed, the court could decide the old statute is invalid. If that happened, Armacost said, abortion opponents would "end up with nothing."
"If we thought it was something that would save unborn children and not harm the current statue that's on the law books we would have no problem with it, but it's not going to save one single life," Armacost said. "It could harm the one mechanism we have in Wisconsin to save unborn children."
Yet Sande and Jacque both contend a constitutional personhood amendment would actually strengthen the abortion ban statute.
"We only see positives coming out of this," Sande said. "With the constitutional protection it offers a more permanent lasting protection."
But Lisa Subeck, executive director of Wisconsin's National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League said the amendment's "attack on reproductive freedom is unprecedented."
State Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, a former lobbyist for Planned Parenthood, said the Personhood Amendment "treats fertilized eggs like they are people while treating women like they're second class citizens."
"They're all about taking away the most personal decisions that people make in their life and interjecting government," Taylor said.
Additionally, both Taylor and Subeck condemned the amendment's potential impact on access to birth control.
Subeck said that effect would likely be decided in the courts, because of constitutional protections for access to contraception.
According to Sande, the personhood amendment could impact access to hormonal contraception, including some varieties of the birth control pill, because they can sometimes "block the implantation of a newly conceived child" in the uterus.
The amendment could also impact the use of invitro-fertilization, Sande said, because the "making of human life" with invitro-fertilization poses a risk to the "unborn child."
"Just the fact that an embryo is in a petri dish is a pretty precarious position," Sande said, adding that discarding and freezing embryos "violat[es] their dignity."
A referendum on a similar personhood amendment was recently defeated by Mississippi voters, in part because of its implications for access to birth control and probable ban on invitro-fertilization.
Reflecting on the amendment's outcome in Mississippi, Armacost said she doubts it would pass in Wisconsin.
"The same thing would happen here," Armacost said.
Sande said the disagreement with WRTL is a difference of strategy, not philosophy, and with or without WRTL support, Pro-Life Wisconsin intends to continue.
