By JONAH McKEOWN
(CNA) — Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz, who garnered numerous endorsements and campaign funding from pro-abortion organizations during a contentious race for a seat on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, emerged as the victor Tuesday night, April 4, in what proved to be the most expensive state Supreme Court race in history.
The 2023 Wisconsin judicial race, which might have remained obscure in other years even within Wisconsin, captured national media attention and record fundraising numbers this spring. Pro-life and pro-abortion advocates agree that Protasiewicz’s win could tip the scales against the state’s current abortion ban, which is currently being challenged in court.
The April 4 statewide election, which saw high turnout numbers, featured former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly and Protasiewicz, a judge for Branch 24 of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court in Wisconsin, having been elected to that court in 2014. In a February 21 primary, Kelly and Protasiewicz emerged as the two highest vote-getters, advancing them to the nonpartisan general election
Protasiewicz defeated Kelly 55 percent to 45 percent as of 11:15 p.m. Eastern time, according to the Associated Press.
Protasiewicz won endorsements throughout the campaign from numerous top Democrats in Wisconsin as well as from pro-abortion groups such as NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and EMILY’s List. She also spoke openly about her pro-abortion views while insisting that she has made “no promises” to pro-abortion groups that she will seek to overturn the state’s current abortion ban.
Pro-life advocates have expressed worry that a liberal-majority state Supreme Court is likely to declare the state’s pre-Roe abortion ban unconstitutional, as happened in a lower court last year in neighboring Michigan and West Virginia.
Wisconsin is the only state in the nation with a pre-Roe v. Wade abortion ban in effect, at least on paper. Wisconsin’s ban, which is contained in Section 940.04 of the Wisconsin Statutes and dates to 1849, allows abortion only to save the life of the mother. The state’s Democratic governor and attorney general have said they will not enforce the ban and are currently suing in an attempt to have it overturned.
The law was previously unenforceable following the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, but Roe’s overturning last year allowed the statute to come into effect. So far, it has not been blocked in court.
“The upcoming spring election will determine the balance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and will likely determine the fate of not only 940.04 but pro-life laws in Wisconsin for years to come,” Gracie Skogman, legislative and public affairs director for Wisconsin Right to Life, told the National Catholic Register.
Pro-abortion groups within and outside Wisconsin have identified the state Supreme Court race as the key to getting 940.04 overturned. Gov. Tony Evers, along with Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, announced a lawsuit last year to attempt to overturn the law, arguing that it has been superseded by subsequent legislation and cannot be enforced.
The lawsuit is likely to be ultimately decided by the state Supreme Court, which has had a 4-3 conservative majority for the past decade and a half. Now that Protasiewicz has won, the state Supreme Court will feature a liberal majority at least until 2025, when a liberal justice will run for reelection.
Kelly, who describes himself as a “constitutional conservative,” had warned during the campaign that a Protasiewicz win would lead to the judge imposing her political agenda on the courts rather than interpreting the law fairly, which he insisted he would do. Protasiewicz criticized Kelly for his alleged involvement in a failed Republican plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which Kelly claims he was “not in the loop” about.
Amid a contentious campaign, Kelly earned the endorsement of three statewide pro-life groups — Wisconsin Family Action, Pro-Life Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Right to Life. He said during a recent debate that his numerous endorsements from pro-life groups came about after having conversations with them about his pledge to uphold the Constitution, not because of any promise to keep the abortion ban in place.
At least two of the state’s bishops, including Bishop Donald Hying of Madison, had reiterated to Catholics that the right to life is a foundational issue that should form their consciences as they decide how to vote on April 4.
“Without the right to be born and to live, every other right is worthless,” Hying wrote in a March 30 letter.
Here is the complete text:
March 30, 2023
Dear Faithful Brothers and Sisters of the Diocese of Madison,
Walking with Moms in Need, a recent initiative in every diocese in the country, seeks to accompany, support, and assist women who face crisis pregnancies and the challenges of motherhood. One of many ways the Church seeks to build a culture of life, respect, and love — in which every person created by God reaches their human potential — Walking with Moms in Need helps parents to welcome and nurture the precious life of their children. This culture of life is intimately bound in the very fabric of our nation.
The fundamental, founding vision of the United States is the Declaration of Independence, which states that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This right to life is the most basic foundation necessary for true human flourishing.
Without the right to be born and to live, every other right is worthless. Do we want to live in a country that welcomes the wonder of every human life, supports marriages and families, helps the needy and suffering, seeks justice for all, and builds a civilization of love, or, do we want a society which aborts its children, leaves struggling parents without support, and lives a radical autonomy with no reference to the dignity of life and the common good? Do we elect civic leaders who stand on the unshakeable moral principle that every human life is sacred and of immeasurable worth, or, do we elect those who disregard the fundamental dignity of life and advocate for taking the life of the most innocent in the womb?
Such questions we should ask ourselves as we exercise our moral and civic duty to vote.
“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life then, that you and your children may live” (Deut. 30:19).
March 28, 2023
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Tomorrow, March 29, we will celebrate Pray, Reconcile & Rejoice: Twelve Hours of Reconciliation. Confessions will be available to the faithful in designated parishes in all the deaneries in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. I encourage everyone to seek the convenient parish in their area and participate for the sake of their souls and the sake of our community.
This reconciliation opportunity was initiated a few years ago and has been remarkably successful. This year, thousands of faithful Catholics will once again take advantage of a number of confessors available to hear confessions in English and Spanish. Many confessors are edified that individuals who have not been to confession for some 20 or 30 years will embrace the sacrament on this day. For others, this will be the fulfillment of their Lenten journey. Many who approach the sacrament with some regularity realize that the sacrament is grace giving, which strengthens our ability to face the problems of the world with a sense of virtue.
There is a statement in one of the acts of contrition, “In what I have done, and in what I have failed to do.” We are responsible for our actions and also for our inactions in the face of evil and sin. Many who oppose the Church’s teachings will characterize their positions as something other than what they truly are. They mask the horror of the act that they are supporting. Current positions on abortion state that it’s a woman’s health issue or that it is a “right.”
Imagine if those supporting slavery claimed that it was a right of ownership — not the denial of a person’s dignity, but an economic right. Slavery supports the economy. Would there be anyone, knowing the dignity of the human person, who would support that justification?
There is only one problem with the pro-abortion argument — it is not “pro-choice.” It is pro-death, and the reality is that a life is taken. Imagine this gruesome sight: a fully developed infant, nine months in the womb, and then this preborn is sliced up. Now, imagine a year-old infant, sliced up. Underneath the picture of the nine-month, fully developed preborn is the statement: “This action is protected by the law,” and underneath the one-year-old is the statement: “This is an act of murder.”
The killing of the innocent has never been supported by Catholic Church Teachings. As citizens, we have an obligation to support the laws that protect the innocent. We must take our responsibility, as citizens before God’s judgment, for the times we have supported the destruction of the innocent. We must also take responsibility for the lack of support for the protection of the innocent when we vote for candidates and laws that liberalize abortion laws.
There is nothing enlightened about an individual who fails to realize that the denial of the right to life for the most vulnerable among us is an attack on the dignity and personal value of every citizen. I could not and would not support a candidate whose position on life is contrary to the teachings of the Church — a position contrary to the teachings and love of Jesus. A personally imposed blindness to this most fundamental of all rights for human beings would have us support the agenda of the evil one embracing the darkness over the light. Did I do “something” to protect the innocent?
As we make our way to the sacrament of reconciliation, let us also remember not only what we have done, but what we have failed to do. How could we not embrace the innocent when we are called to LOVE ONE ANOTHER?
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