Kamala Harris rips new Wisconsin Republicans' bill to ban abortion after 14 weeks

WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris Friday afternoon railed against a proposal from Wisconsin Republicans that would reduce the timeframe for legal abortions in the state by six weeks, calling the bill's authors "extremists" and taking aim at former President Donald Trump.

“Extremists in Wisconsin just introduced a new abortion ban — the latest in their long string of attacks on reproductive freedoms," Harris said in a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Women in Wisconsin have lived in a state of chaos and uncertainty ever since Donald Trump paved the way to overturn Roe v. Wade."

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Earlier in the day, Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly introduced the bill to ban abortion after 14 weeks of pregnancy except in situations where the mother's life or health would be endangered without the procedure. Voters would be required to approve the policy through a ballot measure before it could take effect, but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he would veto it before it gets that far, ensuring the bill will not become law.

Harris' comments come as she is scheduled to travel to Waukesha on Monday to recognize the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion ruling that was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022. Her office said she will "highlight the harm caused by extreme abortion bans and share stories of those who have been impacted in Wisconsin and across the country."

Republicans will hold a a public hearing on their new abortion bill the same day as Harris' visit.

In a statement from her campaign, Harris warned that Trump, the current Republican presidential frontrunner, will "try to gut abortion care in every state across the country" if he is elected in November.

"Make no mistake: President Biden and I will never stop fighting to make sure that Wisconsin women, and women across this country, never have to worry about the status of their fundamental reproductive rights again," Harris said.

A spokesman for the Trump campaign in a statement to the Journal Sentinel claimed Trump was "gaining support" with women voters.

The Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade revived a dormant 19th Century state law that banned abortions in Wisconsin in every situation except when the mother would die without one. But in December, a Dane County judge ruled the law did not apply to consensual abortions.

Abortions were suspended for a total of 15 months in between the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and the Dane County ruling.

Still, the issue of abortion remains politically salient in Wisconsin, a state that could prove to be the tipping point in the November election.

Democrats since 2022 won two of the last three major statewide races running largely on abortion — reelecting Evers to the governorship and later flipping the state Supreme Court into liberal control for the first time in 15 years.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Molly Beck contributed from Madison.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kamala Harris rips Wisconsin Republicans' new abortion bill