Ron Johnson says overturning Roe v. Wade might be 'messy' but won't be 'that big a change'

“It might be a little messy for some people, but abortion is not going away,” he told the Wall Street Journal, adding that people would be able to still drive to Illinois for an abortion if Roe is overturned.

Johnson told the newspaper he’s not sure that the Wisconsin law banning abortions in every instance except to save the mother’s life would actually go into effect. That stance is consistent with legal experts on both sides who expect a bevy of legal challenges to Wisconsin’s abortion bans if Roe is overturned.

But in any case, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said it would stop providing abortions in the state unless courts determine Wisconsin’s abortion ban can’t be enforced. An abortion provider told the Wisconsin State Journal that he and other abortion providers already discussed starting a clinic in northern Illinois that could cater to Wisconsinites.

Johnson’s statement that people can still seek abortions, just across the state line, contrasts with the views of Wisconsin’s Republican gubernatorial candidates who oppose abortion in almost all cases.

But unlike the gubernatorial candidates, Johnson, of Oshkosh, doesn’t have to compete in a party primary and is instead eyeing a general election in the closely divided state.

“Primary voters are always folks more intensely interested in politics (and) more intensely partisan,” Marquette Law School Director Charles Franklin said in an interview last week. “But they also are usually also more ideologically in the camp of their party.”

Johnson’s suggestion that abortion isn’t “going to be the big political issue everybody thinks it is because it’s not going to be that big a change” drew pushback from Democrats.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said Johnson’s assurance that Wisconsinites can obtain abortions in Illinois “is really an irresponsible statement for a senator to make.”

“The vast majority of people who are seeking abortion are folks who may not have the resources” to travel to Illinois for an abortion, she told the Wall Street Journal.

Black and Latino Wisconsinites have higher rates of living in poverty than white residents, according to UW-Madison researchers who found the Black poverty rate was 2.5 times higher than the overall poverty rate in the state. Additionally, the CDC reports Black and Hispanic women are far more likely to obtain abortions than white women.

Democrats respond

Johnson’s comments came as the U.S. Senate was scheduled to vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act, an effort to codify nationwide abortion protections.

“People will lose their lives under Wisconsin’s abortion ban and all Ron Johnson has to say is that ‘it might be a little messy’?” Lauren Chou, spokesperson for Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes’ U.S. Senate campaign, said in a statement.

Sarah Abel, spokesperson for state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski’s U.S. Senate campaign, said abortion is already an issue for Johnson and referred to an ad Godlewski ran blasting Johnson in the wake of the leaked draft showing the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe.

“I would give Ron Johnson credit for admitting that the reproductive freedom of women is not an issue for him, except that’s a lie. Abortion has always been a big part of his record,” Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Nelson said. “This was evident when he said that the leaked abominable Alito opinion was ‘well-written.’”

“’Messy’ is when you spill a glass (of) milk,” Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alex Lasry said. “Stripping away women’s freedom and constitutional right to make their own personal decisions about their body, their health care, and their family is not ‘messy.’”

Past support

Johnson has supported federal abortion bans in the past and praised the leaked Roe draft opinion but said the matter is best handled by each state. Still, Johnson’s spokesperson, Alexa Henning, would not say whether Johnson still supports a federal ban.

“The reality is there is no consensus on passing federal legislation, nor will there be without the process first playing out in the states,” she said in a statement. “The Senator has always felt that this issue is best decided by the people on a state-by-state basis.”

Last week, Johnson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he expects Wisconsin’s abortion ban, which hasn’t been enforced since 1973, wouldn’t last long if Roe is overturned, saying the “democratic process in Wisconsin will have something other than the 1849 law.” That’s unlikely with a Republican-majority Legislature and would be less likely if a Republican gubernatorial candidate, all of whom are in favor of complete or near-complete abortion bans, gets elected in November.