Eau Claire County Board considering advisory referendum on abortion
Jan. 15—EAU CLAIRE — Voters in Eau Claire County would be able to voice their opinion on repealing Wisconsin's anti-abortion law via a referendum proposed for the spring election.
The County Board is scheduled to decide during its 7 p.m. meeting on Tuesday on whether to put an advisory referendum on ballots for the April 4 election.
The referendum would ask voters whether or not the state's abortion ban law written in 1849 should be repealed.
The nonbinding referendum would gauge county voters' opinion on making abortion legal in the state and results would be shared with the governor, state legislators and the Wisconsin Counties Association, according to a resolution to put the question on ballots.
Eau Claire County's Administration Committee voted 3-0 last week to send the referendum question to the full County Board for a decision that would put it on spring ballots.
Similar referendums were held during November's elections in parts of Wisconsin. In Dane County, 85% of voters favored appealing the abortion law, as did 71% of voters in Racine.
County Supervisor Judy Gatlin is leading the effort to put the referendum on ballots in Eau Claire County.
"The State of Wisconsin is now considered an island when it comes to abortion access, as Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan and Iowa all have protections established for abortion," she wrote.
Her resolution also notes that the state's abortion ban was written 71 years before women gained the right to vote.
In June of last year, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision overturned the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade. By striking down that case's federal protection of abortion rights, it put the states in charge of regulating abortion.
In Wisconsin, that resulted in the state's 19th century abortion ban, which does not provide exceptions for rape or incest, back into effect.
The resolution Gatlin authored cited a Marquette Law School Poll conducted in June in anticipation of November's general election.
A question in that poll asked voters which issue was concerning them at the time. Inflation scored No. 1, but it was followed by abortion policy and then gun violence. Of those polled, 58% were "very concerned" about abortion policy and 24% stated they were "somewhat concerned."
Pollsters further asked people their preferences for abortion policies. Making abortion legal in all cases was favored by 27% of respondents while another 31% believed it should be legal in most cases. Contrasting that were 24% who believe abortion should be illegal with few exceptions and 11% who contend it should be banned entirely.
Marquette Law School polling results going back to 2012 show that the overall proportion of people generally for and against abortion has changed little, but there has been growth among those who want it legal in all cases from the group that had been less absolute in their support.
Other business
Also during Tuesday's County Board meeting:
—The latest set of rural broadband projects to be funded from federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funds will be discussed. Broadband service would be extended to 17 locations in the town of Clear Creek and three public buildings in the Village of Fairchild through projects slated for a vote on Tuesday. These projects will get funding from the $2.8 million the county allocated for broadband expansion projects out of $20.3 million it got from the American Rescue Plan Act.
