The state's leading pro-life group continues its efforts, in the face of Democratic majorities in Washington and Madison. Wisconsin Right to Life executive director Barbara Lyons says, at the state Capitol, they'll oppose repeal of Wisconsin's abortion ban. "That law has been on the books for 160 years, and we need to keep it there, so that on the day Roe versus Wade is overturned, Wisconsin will be able to immediately shut down its abortion clinics," says Lyons.
Right to Life will also oppose a bill to legalize assisted suicide. "Senator (Fred) Risser introduces that bill every session," notes Lyons. "He will feel some momentum this year, because of the ballot issue in Washington state, where it was legalized, and the court case in Montana where a judge legalized assisted suicide there."
Lyons says there's plenty of work for her organization, including pushback against efforts to overturn the federal Hyde amendment, which prohibits the use of federal tax dollars for abortions. "If the Hyde amendment is overturned, abortions will increase dramatically," says Lyons, who discounts public opinion polling which shows support for the abortion status quo. The public, she says, doesn't realize that "forty eight percent of abortions are repeat abortions. Once Roe versus Wade is explained to them, then their opinion goes in a different direction."
