A chilly 25 degrees didn’t stop people from turning out in the streets to memorialize the anniversary of Roe v. Wade this Sunday. More than a thousand rally-goers converged on State Street, and then on the state Capitol, for the Bigger Than Roe National Mobilization on Madison. The event was organized by The Women’s March, and the Madison Abortion & Reproductive Rights Coalition for Healthcare, or MARRCH.
Chanting, singing, and even band playing marked the walk to the capitol, where organizers hoped to galvanize voters leading up to the April Supreme Court election.
“What we’re trying to do is get some demands forward that commemorate the would-be anniversary of Roe, give some space for the solemnity of the moment of a first anniversary of Roe where women do not have bodily autonomy, and also set the stage for the fight to come, particularly in Wisconsin in order to get abortion rights and bodily autonomy back,” Rachel O’Leary Carmona, the Executive Director of Women’s March, told WORT.
“I think the mood of the country and particularly with women is defiant. There’s over 200 marches in the bitter cold of January through most of the country. A lot of folks are having really rough weather, and not cold, not wind, not snow are keeping us from it. This capital is filled with over 2000 people today, and we’re seeing that across the country as well. We think people are geared up ready to fight and ready to win 2023 and 2024,” she added.
There are four people running to fill a seat on the state Supreme Court election this season: two liberal-leaning, and two conservative-leaning candidates. The winner will decide the ideological majority of the court. With a divided legislature and executive branch, Democrats have been pointing to the state’s top court as a place where they could see multiple successes if a liberal-leaning candidate wins — chief among them, striking down Wisconsin’s 1858 ban on abortion.
Outside at the march, rally-goer Lilith K. held an assault rifle and watched for trouble. Inside, a podium stood ready on the South Gallery. Banners proclaiming “Bigger than Roe” hung from balconies, while attendees hoisted hand-made signs on all three floors. Police stood around the edges and volunteers wearing neon vests moved about to assist operations.
Speeches from healthcare workers, organizers, and more filled the two-hour event.
“We have to have legalized abortion, so that women can continue to have the option to have children in the future. We have to have safe abortions for all of the people of Wisconsin, and we have to make sure that we are voting and turning over this absurd law,” says Pat Raes, President of SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin, the state’s largest healthcare union.
Jennifer Knox, the National Director for Working Family’s Power, also spoke to the assembled crowd. She encouraged phone banking and other methods to get out the vote this spring, when a spot on the state Supreme Court will be on the ballot.
“We do have to fear the millions and millions of dollars in Wisconsin will flow in, and the number one antidote to the money that the right will spend is our word of mouth and our relationships. So we need people – the most important thing they can do is talk to friends and family and move them to the polls. We win when we can move our family and our trusted friend networks.”
Meanwhile, state Democratic lawmakers are attempting a last-ditch effort to place abortion directly on the ballot this spring. Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard, of Madison, officially introduced legislation on Monday to include an advisory referendum on the state’s abortion ban on the ballot this spring. The legislation, which would need to be approved by tomorrow to appear on the ballot, asks if Wisconsin’s 19th century abortion ban should be repealed, and if constitutional rights guaranteed under Roe should be restored.
