A trail of Democratic legislative bills on abortion from the last eleven years indicates a concerning trend in state Democrats, whose abortion proposals are more radical than their European counterparts.
Due to Gov. Evers’ 2024 electoral maps, Wisconsin Democrats are looking at the possibility of winning a trifecta in state government for the first time in sixteen years this fall. We know what that would mean for vulnerable Wisconsin mothers and their unborn children, because state Democrats have left a trail of radical bill proposals in their wake over those eleven years.
A closer look at their proposals shows a commitment to on-demand abortion policies that far outweigh even the most progressive European states.
In addition to a legislative proposal that would repeal Wisconsin’s longstanding abortion ban (Wis.Stat. 940.04), Democrats have also introduced at least one piece of legislation every 2-year session, beginning in 2015, that would wipe out the vast majority of pro-life protections enacted in the last fifty years. The details shift slightly from session to session, but the intent does not.
Wisconsin Democrats have spent the last eleven years trying to repeal common-sense protections.
Most of the proposals include a right to abortion at any time during the pregnancy, “if an abortion is necessary in the professional judgment of the individual’s medical provider.”
Noticeably, the Democratic proposals from 2025 do not stipulate that the life or health of the mother must be at risk, even if the unborn child is at full term. The legislation only stipulates that a “medical provider” must think the abortion is necessary.
Bills backed by Wisconsin Democrats
Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee David Crowley signed onto two legislative proposals–one in 2017 and one in 2019–while serving in the State Assembly that would have eliminated:
- Voluntary and informed consent
- Post-fertilization age determination before performing an abortion
- The ban on elective abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization
- Requirement for an in-person visit and exam before prescribing a chemical abortion pill, and more.
A 2023 proposal co-sponsored by Sen. Roys and Rep. Hong, entirely removed the ban on abortions after viability or 20-weeks post-fertilization, meaning that abortion would be effectively legal in Wisconsin up to birth.
Every Democratic State Senator and all but two Democratic State Representatives signed onto that bill–2025 Senate Bill 271–including two gubernatorial hopefuls, State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison).
In addition to establishing the aforementioned “right” to an abortion, the bill would have eliminated voluntary and informed consent, an in-person visit and exam before a physician can prescribe a chemical abortion pill, hospital admitting privileges requirements for a physician performing abortions, prohibitions on persons other than physicians performing abortions, and prohibitions on taxpayer-funded coverage of abortion through government healthcare plans.
How Wisconsin Stacks Up Against Europe
In a 2021 study, the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute found that of the 42 European countries that allow abortion on demand, 39 countries set the limit at 15 weeks’ gestation, or earlier. The remaining three countries limit elective abortions to 22 weeks (Iceland), 24 weeks (Netherlands), and 18 weeks (Sweden). Wisconsin’s current law limits elective abortions to 20 weeks post-fertilization, putting it among the most permissive states in Europe. Like Wisconsin’s law, these European countries allow abortions in medical emergencies at any time.
The remaining 8 European countries, including the UK, require women to have a reason for obtaining an abortion (anywhere from socioeconomic grounds to the life of the mother), as a result, their abortion laws are not considered “on demand.”
The Democrats have played their hand. If they win the State Legislature and the Executive Office in Wisconsin, they will try to enact legislation far more radical than any European state.
Even France, which enshrined abortion as a right in its constitution two years ago, bans elective abortions after 14 weeks.
In the Netherlands, one of the most pro-abortion countries in Europe, the official association of abortion doctors–the NGvA–raised the alarm over an online website where women could order abortion pills without being seen by a doctor. Their concern? That vulnerable women would not be identified and properly cared for without an in-person visit.
In the UK, where only about 5% of the population is pro-life, the government canceled its COVID-era mail-order abortion policy before it was reinstated by Parliament in 2022. National groups tasked with safeguarding minors in the UK also raised the alarm about young girls ordering abortion pills online: they urged in-person care so that girls could be screened for early pregnancy, abuse and monitored afterwards. Pro-choice critics of the UK mail-order abortion scheme noted that these minors have “holistic needs” that must be addressed in-person.
It is so far outside the mainstream of politics in Wisconsin for any Democratic legislator or candidate to admit to the dangers or ethical quandaries of on-demand, mail-order or medical abortion, that Europe’s abortion policies seem almost modest by comparison.
But are the voters as radical on abortion as their Democratic legislators?
What Wisconsin voters actually think
The most recent MU-Law Poll findings from August 26th indicate 28% of Wisconsin voters believe abortion should be legal “in all cases,” 35% think abortion should be legal “in some cases,” 29% think abortion should be “illegal in most cases,” and 7% think it should be “illegal in all cases.”
Notably, this survey does not indicate what percentage of voters think abortion should be legal on demand up to nine months of pregnancy. But it does indicate that only 28% of voters think abortion should be legal either on-demand or in certain situations up to birth.
Wisconsin legislative Democrats are way out of line with Wisconsin voters on this issue. They’re not even in line with European states that are far more socially liberal than the United States.
Wisconsin Democrats are too radical for Wisconsin voters, let alone our vulnerable mothers and their unborn babies.
Paid for by Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.