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One year after Roe v. Wade overturned, Wisconsin Democrats keep abortion rights at forefront

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One year after Roe v. Wade overturned, Wisconsin Democrats keep abortion rights at forefront


One year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the right to an abortion remains central to Democrats’ political operations in Wisconsin as the state party seeks to keep U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in office — a key race to keeping the U.S. Senate in Democrats’ hands — and re-elect President Joe Biden next year.

Liberals’ calculus is clear: Most Wisconsinites — and just about all Democrats — favor more permissive abortion policies than the state’s 1849 feticide bill, which has been broadly interpreted to ban abortions in all cases except to save the mother’s life. The issue featured prominently in Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ reelection in 2022 and helped lead to liberal Justice-elect Janet Protasiewicz’ double digit-winning campaign for the Wisconsin Supreme Court earlier this year.

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Democrats hope it will continue to energize not only liberal voters but also independents and even some Republicans who favor some abortion rights.

“There’s a real irony there … that Republicans finally got what they wanted, in a way, after more than 50 years since Roe v. Wade, but it is costing them electorally,” UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said. “The Dobbs (v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization) decision helped keep Democrats competitive in an election cycle where they should have suffered pretty significant losses.”

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The decision from the Supreme Court blocks lower court orders that would have restricted the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone nationwide.


At the same time, Democrats’ lawsuit challenging the state’s apparent near-total abortion ban is slowly moving through the courts, likely on its way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which will have a liberal majority in August.

Since the ruling, abortion continues to be largely unavailable in Wisconsin, requiring women to travel to nearby states for the procedure. Planned Parenthood reported over 50% more abortion patients in their Illinois clinics since last June, many of them traveling from out of state. The group’s Minnesota clinics had a 25% increase, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

As the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision approached last week, Wisconsin Democrats made clear the issue would factor heavily into their 2024 campaigns.

The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday announced an ad campaign in Wisconsin including abortion rights billboards in Milwaukee and digital ads on social media.

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“The fight for reproductive freedom is on in 2024,” Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler said, adding that the biggest question is whether there will be federal legislation to protect abortion rights or a national abortion ban.

Baldwin echoed those concerns in a video last week.

“I refuse to let the next generation of women be left with fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers,” she said. 

Wisconsin Republicans, meanwhile, have remained mostly silent on the issue. Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Rachel Reisner didn’t respond to a request for an interview with party chair Brian Schimming.

Instead, they’ve focused on issues they’re better positioned on, such as inflation and crime, Burden said.

Republicans have also sought to “soften the hard edge” on Wisconsin’s abortion ban through proposals to add exceptions for rape and incest, or suggesting putting the matter to a referendum, as proposed by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh.

“So far, neither of those strategies … have been very effective,” Burden said.

No consensus

The parties’ different approaches reflect a divide across the nation that favors Democrats when it comes to abortion: 42% of the public say the Democratic Party best represents their views on abortion, compared with 26% who said the same about the Republican Party, the Kaiser Family Foundation found. Just 10% of self-identified Democrats said their party doesn’t represent their views on abortion, compared with 27% of Republicans.

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Pharmacists could prescribe birth control under bill passed by Wisconsin Assembly

Both parties have introduced several abortion bills in the past year, all of which have gone nowhere in a state where the Legislature is controlled by Republicans and the governor’s office is held by a Democrat.

In March, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, proposed a bill to add exceptions for rape and incest to the state ban. But Evers said he wouldn’t sign any abortion bill that leaves that 1849 law in effect. Soon after, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said the Senate wouldn’t even take up the bill given the certainty of a veto.

Since then, Republicans introduced measures clarifying that several medical procedures that could lead to the death of a fetus wouldn’t be categorized as abortions. The bills haven’t received a vote yet. Even if they do, Evers would almost certainly veto those, too, because they would leave the 1849 ban active.

Democratic proposals have been equally unsuccessful. Democratic lawmakers have proposed abortion legislation that hasn’t received a public hearing. Evers called for the Legislature into two special sessions to repeal the state’s 1849 ban and have voters weigh in on the ban, but Republicans quickly gaveled out of both meetings.

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Bound for court?

That means the likeliest venue for resolving the state’s abortion debate is in the courts.

Days after the Dobbs decision, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul challenged the state’s abortion ban, which hadn’t been enforced since Roe established a constitutional right to abortion in 1973.

Kaul argued that subsequent, more permissive abortion bans effectively obviated the ban. He also alleged the law has been out of use for so long that it can no longer be considered to be in effect.

Assembly approves bill overhauling alcohol industry regulations in Wisconsin

While most of the hearings on the case so far have involved procedural issues, Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper questioned whether part of the law being challenged by Kaul only prohibits killing a fetus without the mother’s consent, not consensual abortions.

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Whatever becomes of the case, it’s almost certainly headed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which will have a liberal majority for the first time in 15 years after the election of Protasiewicz, who was unusually frank in discussing her support for abortion rights during the campaign.

First GOP presidential primary debate coming to Milwaukee's Fiserv Forum on Aug. 23

If the court does grant more abortion rights before the 2024 elections, Burden said, “Democrats will have to diversify their arguments, their messaging to voters,” beyond abortion.

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Wisconsin

15-year-old girl fatally shoots teacher and teenager at a Christian school in Wisconsin

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15-year-old girl fatally shoots teacher and teenager at a Christian school in Wisconsin


MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A 15-year-old student opened fire inside a study hall at a small Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and teenager and prompting a swarm of police officers responding to a second grader’s 911 call.

The female student wounded six others in Monday’s shooting at Abundant Life Christian School, including two students who were in critical condition, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. A teacher and three students were taken to a hospital with less serious injuries, and two of them were later released.

“Every child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever. … We need to figure out and try to piece together what exactly happened,” Barnes said.

Police said the shooter, identified as Natalie Rupnow, was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound when officers arrived and died en route to a hospital. Barnes declined to offer additional details about the shooter, partly out of respect for the family.

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Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school — prekindergarten through high school — with approximately 420 students in Madison, the state capital.

Barbara Wiers, the school’s director of elementary and school relations, said when they practice safety routines, leaders always announce that it’s a drill. That didn’t happen Monday, just a week before Christmas break.

“When they heard, ‘Lockdown, lockdown,’ they knew it was real,” she said.

Wiers said the school does not have metal detectors but uses other security measures including cameras.

A motive for the shooting was not immediately known, nor was it clear if the victims were targeted, Barnes said.

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“I don’t know why, and I feel like if we did know why, we could stop these things from happening,” he told reporters.

Barnes said police were talking with the shooter’s father and other family members, who were cooperating, and searching the shooter’s home.

“He lost someone as well,” Barnes said of the shooter’s father. “And so we’re not going to rush the information. We’ll take our time and make sure we do our due diligence.”

The first 911 call to report an active shooter came in shortly before 11 a.m. First responders who were in training just 3 miles (about 5 kilometers) away dashed to the school for an actual emergency, Barnes said. They arrived three minutes after the initial call.

Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

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Police blocked off roads around the school, and federal agents were at the scene to assist local law enforcement. No shots were fired by police.

Children and families were reunited at a health clinic about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the school. Parents pressed children against their chests while others squeezed hands and shoulders as they walked side by side.

Abundant Life asked for prayers in a brief Facebook post. Wiers said they’re still deciding whether they will resume classes this week.

Bethany Highman, the mother of a student, rushed to the school and learned over FaceTime that her daughter was OK.

“As soon as it happened, your world stops for a minute. Nothing else matters,” Highman said. “There’s nobody around you. You just bolt for the door and try to do everything you can as a parent to be with your kids.”

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In a statement, President Joe Biden cited the tragedy in calling on Congress to pass universal background checks, a national red flag law and certain gun restrictions.

“We can never accept senseless violence that traumatizes children, their families, and tears entire communities apart,” Biden said. He spoke with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and offered his support.

Evers said it’s “unthinkable” that a child or teacher would go to school and never return home.

The school shooting was the latest among dozens across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut; Parkland, Florida; and Uvalde, Texas.

The shootings have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms. But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws.

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Firearms were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.

Rhodes-Conway said the country needs to do more to prevent gun violence.

“I hoped that this day would never come to Madison,” she said.

___

Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Ed White, Josh Funk and Hallie Golden and photographer Morry Gash contributed to this report.

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Madison, Wisconsin, first responders were undergoing training when a school shooting happened

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Madison, Wisconsin, first responders were undergoing training when a school shooting happened


First responders in Madison, Wisconsin, were participating in a training session on Monday morning when a school shooting occurred nearby, authorities said.

A student and teacher were killed and six others were injured when a teenage student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School, a private Christian school serving approximately 250 families on the city’s East Side, said Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes. The shooter was found dead by authorities, police said.

Barnes said the shooting occurred around 10:57 a.m. CT, while medics with the Madison Police Department’s Special Events Team were in a session at the department’s training center — less than three miles away. The SET Medics Team consists of about 16 team members, including several who have worked or volunteered in Emergency Medical Services, according to the city of Madison website.

“They left the training center immediately and came down here and doing in real time what they were actually practicing for,” he said. “And that’s why training is so important, and making sure that we can provide the best possible training and the best possible response for our community members.”

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The police chief said training for such events occurs “constantly,” noting fire and police commanders participated in a separate training session within the past two weeks.

Madison police and local officials shared additional details on Monday following a deadly school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School.

“And so all of that came into play today, and our officers performed extremely well based on their training and based on the expectations that they know exactly what to do,” Barnes said. “Stop the threat, stop the killing, find the threat.”

Training for mass incidents is something “we had hoped we would never have to put into practice one more time,” Madison Fire Chief Chris Carbon said.

A possible motive for the shooting remained unclear late Monday afternoon.

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According to Barnes, police were working to find out “as many answers as we can” while interviewing witnesses and securing search warrants to obtain additional information.

“Many of you have asked me about the why of this,” the police chief said. “Why did this happen? What do we know? What was the motivation? I do not know, but I will tell you this, our detectives are working hard in the investigative process to find out as many answers as we can so that we can further prevent these things from happening, not only in this community, but in other communities around our country.”



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Wisconsin football scores portal pickups as quarterback Danny O’Neil, DL Corey Walker commit

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Wisconsin football scores portal pickups as quarterback Danny O’Neil, DL Corey Walker commit


MADISON – Quarterback and defensive line are two major areas of need for the Wisconsin football team this offseason.

Luke Fickell and his staff scored key pickups at both positions Monday morning.

Quarterback Danny O’Neil and defensive lineman Corey Walker announced commitments to the Badgers to bring the total of known transfer portal pickups for the program to five.

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O’Neil, coming from San Diego State, is the first quarterback recruited with the idea of running new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes’ scheme.

This season the 6-foot, 195-pound redshirt freshman completed 209 of 330 passes (63.3%) for 2,181 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Walker (6-5, 270) played at Western Michigan and was part of the Broncos’ ‘defense that faced Wisconsin in Camp Randall Stadium earlier this season.

He finished the season with 38 tackles that included 6 ½ tackles for a loss and 5½ sacks. He was also credited with five pass break ups. He had three tackles in a 28-14 loss to the Badgers on Aug. 28.

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Walker has one year of eligibility remaining.



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