Wisconsin Gov. Evers calls special session on abortion, wants voters to call lawmakers

Gov. Tony Evers is asking abortion supporters in the state to pressure lawmakers ahead of a new special session on abortion.

The governor on Wednesday said he will call the legislature back to Madison on June 22 to overturn what he called Wisconsin’s “criminal abortion ban.”

“We cannot allow our kids and grandkids to grow up in a world where they have fewer rights than we did growing up. That’s not the future we’ve promised them. And it’s not the future they deserve,” Evers said in a statement. “This isn’t about politics – it’s about empathy, compassion, and doing the right thing.”

Evers asked supporters to call their lawmakers and “demand they protect reproductive healthcare.”

Wisconsin is one of nearly two dozen states where abortion would become illegal is Roe. v Wade is overturned. The United States Supreme Court is expected to do just that sometime this month.

Democrats at the Wisconsin Capitol, unsurprisingly, cheered the governor’s call for a special session.

“We’re living in unprecedented and dystopic times, with one of the most impactful decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court on the horizon. Reproductive freedom is in jeopardy here in Wisconsin,” Sen Melissa Agar, D-Madison said Wednesday.

“Whatever their public positions or personal religious beliefs may be, [Republican lawmakers] should answer the call and ensure that Wisconsin does not become a state that criminalizes basic healthcare,” Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee said. “If they do not, they will be sending a clear message to the people of Wisconsin that they do not value their opinion.”

But the Democrats’ hopes and Gov. Evers’ special session are already doomed.

“We will gavel out of another blatantly political special session call from this partisan governor,” Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said in a statement. “Governor Evers and modern Democrats hold an extreme and abhorrent view on the taking of innocent life. If Tony Evers had his way, babies would be allowed to be killed up until the moment of birth.”

Wisconsin Republicans have twice passed Born Alive legislation that would require care for babies that survive an abortion, but LeMahieu noted that the govenror vetoed them both.

“Governor Evers should get back to the basics of good governance,” LeMahieu added. “The people of Wisconsin need Governor Evers to use his federal funds to tackle rampant inflation, demand his broken agencies perform their core missions, and get serious about the violent crime plaguing our communities. Instead, he is pandering to the extreme wing of his base in an effort to win re-election.”