Wisconsin’s 1849 Abortion Law Should Not Stand [EDITORIAL]

By: Carlee Kostowicz

On June 30, the U.S supreme court overturned Roe v. Wade, declaring that the constitutional right to an abortion, that was upheld for almost half a century, no longer exists. The right to an abortion is now being left up to the states. Wisconsin therefore reverted back to its 1849 abortion law, which criminalizes abortion. It is now a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion on a woman, no matter the circumstances of her pregnancy including pregnancy as a result of rape or incest, unless the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother. Gov. Tony Evers’ has promised to grant clemency to doctors who are prosecuted for performing abortions, and is fighting to maintain legal abortions for all in Wisconsin. Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul plan to challenge Wisconsin’s abortion law by filing a lawsuit claiming the state’s 19th century criminal abortion ban is superseded by more modern legislation and cannot be enforced. Also arguing that the 1849 law conflicts with several state laws that regulate how a physician can provide an abortion. We, the editorial board agree with Evers’ decision to file a lawsuit. Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion law should not stand, and the legislature should revert back to the current law before Roe v. Wade was overturned. 

            Before the overturning, the Wisconsin State law required that a woman meet with a counselor and physician before she can have an abortion. After this counseling appointment, the woman must wait at least 24 hours before she can return for the abortion procedure. Young women under the age of 18 are required to have an adult relative with them. Abortions were also not to be performed after 21 weeks of pregnancy, about 5 months. An abortion may be performed at 20 or more weeks postfertilization only in cases of life endangerment or severely compromised health. 

            We the board believe these abortion laws are reasonable because of scientific fact, freedom of choice, and the public’s opinion. Before five months, a fetus’s heart is not fully formed. During the first 6-10 weeks, when most abortions occur, the heart is far from fully formed at this stage. The “beat” is not audible, it is a flutter. If doctors put a stethoscope up to a woman’s belly this early on in her pregnancy, they would not hear the heartbeat (Live Science). There is also no state of consciousness before five months. Consciousness requires a sophisticated network of highly interconnected components, nerve cells. Its physical substrate, the thalamo-cortical complex that provides consciousness with its highly elaborate content, begins to be in place between the 24th and 28th week of gestation (Scientific American). Consciousness develops after almost all abortions occur, so most abortions do not affect conscious, able to feel fetuses. 

            We also live in the United States of America, the land of the “free”. We the board believe women should have the right to choose what they want to do with their own body without government influence or control. Are we really free when a group of men get to dictate what a woman gets to do with her body? Having a child, it changes your body and your entire life forever. The woman has to carry that child for nine months, the woman has to give birth to that child and provide for it for eighteen years after that. The woman should absolutely get the choice to decide if that is something, they are ready for. A fifteen-year-old girl who didn’t even know what sex was when she got raped, should have that choice. A seventeen-year-old girl who was about to go off to college on scholarship, should have that choice. A twenty-one-year-old girl whos’ on her own living paycheck to paycheck with no support, should have that choice. Women should have the right to choose what they want to do with their own body, it’s as simple as that. Lastly, America was built on a democracy, it should always be the will of the people. According to a recent Marquette University Law School poll, 3/4 people living in Wisconsin are pro-choice. In addition, the director of the university’s polling operation, Charles Franklin, tweeted 10 years of MU poll results on the issue of abortion. Through that entire time, approximately 6 out of 10 Wisconsinites backed legalized abortion. 

            All in all, the board believes that Evers’ should pursue the lawsuit and the state of Wisconsin should go back to the abortion law before Roe v. Wade was wrongfully overturned.