Women in Prison Fable Begins in Earnest

It happens every election cycle. Planned Parenthood and its cronies run blatantly false ads accusing right-to-life candidates of being in favor of throwing women who have abortions in prison.

The latest victim is Senator McCain. A group called the Winning Message Action Fund, which is associated with the pro-abortion group the National Institute for Reproductive Health, will begin airing ads in battleground states (including Wisconsin) in early October. The ad has “questions” for McCain: “Will you stand by as states put women in jail?”

I have worked with candidates for over thirty years. I cannot think of a single right-to-life candidate or legislator who favors putting women who have abortions in jail. Nor does Wisconsin Right to Life hold that position. Think of how hypocritical we would be as we welcome women who have had abortions into ranks, while holding the position that they should really be in prison.

Beyond that, the law doesn’t support it. Our Wisconsin abortion ban, s. 940.04 of the statutes, says in (3) and (4) that women who have abortions are subject to penalties. However, s. 940.04 (3) and (4) are nullified by passage of s. 940.13 in 1985 which states that women cannot be penalized or fined in any way. The pro-aborts ignore s. 940.13, which is the prevailing law, and insist that in Wisconsin women will go to prison.

Be prepared for an onslaught of such ads being used against candidates for the state legislature. We’ll keep you posted on who is attacked and when.

Barbara Lyons