Milwaukee, WI – On Saturday, February 18, Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee (RJA-M) held a march in downtown Milwaukee with a rally outside the Safety Building. Milwaukee County District Attorney John T. Chisholm’s office is located in the Safety Building and Chisholm was the target of the event.

Chisholm previously made a statement that he would not prosecute abortion cases in Milwaukee County. RJA-M is calling on Chisholm to put that statement into writing.

Exactly a month earlier on January 18, RJA-M reached out to Chisholm requesting he sign a pledge to not prosecute any person in Milwaukee assisting, providing or receiving abortions. RJA-M included a copy of this pledge when contacting Chisholm and his office. Since the initial email to Chisholm, RJA-M followed up multiple times in four weeks with no response. RJA-M then contacted Chisholm’s office with an email not publicly listed, which resulted in a response of an interest to meet. No meeting has been scheduled as of yet.

“We are here to remind John Chisholm that the city of Milwaukee is watching and we are done waiting. We want safe and sustainable communities for all, and one step towards that is ensuring that all individuals can receive abortion care without being criminalized,” said Molly Lynn, of RJA-M.

The speakers at the Safety Building also included representatives from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Students for a Democratic Society – UWM, and the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. Each organization called on Chisholm to sign the pledge.

#MilwaukeeWI #AbortionRights #ReproductiveJusticeActionMilwaukeeRJAM

Madison, WI – On the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, January 22, Reproductive Justice Action-Milwaukee (RJA-M) joined the Madison Area Reproductive Rights Coalition for Healthcare (MARCH) for a march and rally of thousands in Madison, the Wisconsin capital city. The event called on people to vote in the spring primary Wisconsin Supreme Court election, but it also heavily emphasized that this fight is “Bigger Than Roe.”

The fight for reproductive rights has always been at the forefront of healthcare efforts, and access to free abortion for all is just a fraction of the healthcare coverage that people deserve.

During a speech, Kate Bushmann, outreach chair for RJA-M said, “This past summer we pressured the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors for a resolution, similar to Dane County’s, demanding that Wisconsin State Statute 940.04 be repealed. This resolution passed with our amendment added to it, as well as an advisory referendum on the upcoming spring ballot, weighing the opinion of Milwaukee County on repealing Wisconsin State Statute 940.04.”

Bushmann also urged people to call Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm to sign RJA-M's pledge, agreeing that he and his team will not prosecute abortion cases. Alongside this she reminded the crowd of RJA-M’s demand of community control of the police.

The march was a great reminder that the fight for codifying abortion rights into law and access to free abortion on demand is not stopping until we get what the people need. Grassroots efforts are vital to the people’s movements, and RJA-M joining MARCH for this event was a great testimony to that.

#MadisonWI #AbortionRights #ReproductiveJusticeActionMilwaukeeRJAM

RJAM’s resolve and tenacity in the last several months helped ensure the resolution passed the full Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. RJAM organized several call-ins, email blasts, and pickets outside the homes of those county supervisors who have failed to understand why Wisconsin State Statute 940.04 needs to be overturned. They also held several lengthy meetings with supportive county supervisors in order to craft the resolution with the appropriate legal language.

This victory is an important step in the right direction as RJAM leads the struggle to secure reproductive rights for the people of Milwaukee. Capturing the spirit of this victory, Carly Klein, of RJAM, said, “When the referendum passed the County Board Supervisor meeting on Thursday, I was able to breathe a big sigh of relief. After nearly six months of demanding the city officials to allow the people of Milwaukee a chance to express their opinions on abortion access, we finally had a victory!”

RJAM intends on carrying the momentum of this victory in the months to come and continue fighting for reproductive rights!

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #AbortionRights #ReproductiveJusticeActionMilwaukeeRJAM

Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of August 29, demonstrators from Reproductive Justice Action- Milwaukee (RJA-M) lined the street outside of Milwaukee County Board Supervisor Patti Logsdon’s home in Franklin, a suburb of Milwaukee. Banging pots and pans and holding picket signs reading “Stay out of my panties Patti” and “Don’t be a problematic Patti,” activists aimed to call attention to the unethical, anti-choice rhetoric Logsdon spewed during the county board supervisors meeting on July 28.

At that same meeting, six county board supervisors – including Logsdon – ultimately voted against putting an advisory referendum on Milwaukee County’s November ballot. This referendum aimed to ask for a public opinion on overturning Wisconsin State Statue 940.04, written in 1849, that makes abortions illegal. Logsdon stated that she believed, “the unborn need a voice too.”

Activists at the demonstration outside Logsdon’s home shouted chants outside of Logsdon’s house saying, “940.04, kick it out the door!” and, “Hey hey ho ho, the abortion ban has got to go. Hey hey ho ho, your backwards views have got to go. Hey hey ho ho, forced pregnancy has got to go!”

RJA-M’s chair, Lauren Forbush, gave a compelling speech stating, “Patti, I’d like to remind you that 80% of the population in the United States believes that Roe v. Wade should not have been overturned.” She went on to ask Logsdon to consider, “the people that die from complications due to being forced to carry a pregnancy their body cannot support,” and “the people who have to unroot their entire lives and overwork to the bone, just to afford a baby they were not prepared for.”

Forbush’s also demanded Logsdon to recognize, “the people who suffer with lifelong trauma from sexual assault and along with that the trauma from having to carry a baby that was forced upon them.” Forbush ended her speech by saying that Logson needs to understand the lasting effects “when you deny us the right to vote on our basic human rights.”

RJA-M plans to continue making their voices heard across the Milwaukee County area. Their goal is to demand that each county board supervisor who voted against the referendum reconsider their stance and draft a resolution. They will not stop showing up until Milwaukee is an abortion sanctuary. The organization asks the people in the different communities to sign their active petition demanding the county board of supervisors draft a resolution for decriminalizing abortion in Milwaukee County.

The Student for a Democratic Society at UW-Milwaukee and RJA-M will be co-hosting a campus speakout and march for reproductive rights on September 15 at Spaights Plaza.

#MilwaukeeWI #abortion #AbortionRights #ReproductiveJusticeActionMilwaukeeRJAM

Milwaukee, WI – On August 15, a brand-new grassroots organization, Reproductive Justice Action-Milwaukee, picketed outside the home of Milwaukee County District 6 Supervisor Shawn Rolland. This was in response to Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors voting against putting an advisory referendum on Milwaukee County’s November ballot to overturn State Statute 940.04, which makes most abortions illegal in the state of Wisconsin.

“Shawn Rolland is one of the supervisors who voted against the referendum despite his pro-choice stance. Rolland’s decision to vote no, not only on something he claims to support so heavily, but on something that also affects pregnant people all over the state of Wisconsin is massively disappointing,” said Lauren Forbush, a member with RJA-M.

“To deprive the people of their right to vote for basic human rights due to the assumption and lack of effort to make us heard is ludicrous and this decision will not be forgotten by the public and RJA-M,” Forbush continued.

The protesters chanted outside of Rolland's house for over an hour, shouting “You worry about the cost, we worry about our lives!”, “Abortion is our right, we won’t give up this fight!” and “Use your voice for better! Dear Shawn! Use your vote for better!”

Rolland claims he is “strongly pro-choice” but voted no on the advisory referendum due to “concerns” about the $18,000 cost and also feels that Madison doesn’t care what Milwaukee residents have to say. He also believes that “they could be moved by ballot measures or advocacy efforts led by their own constituents or by business owners who are in their areas,” and to him “this seems like a lot of time, money, and effort we spend on this county, and ultimately, to what end?”

The message RJA-M is sending to Rolland, and the entire board of supervisors, is that a resolution be drafted and passed for Milwaukee County to become a safe haven for abortion access. They know this is possible due to Dane County’s resolution that was passed in May, protecting abortion for Dane County residents. RJA-M also demands that law enforcement within Milwaukee County shall refuse to apprehend any provider for performing abortion care, and that the district attorney’s office will dismiss all charges against any provider who performs abortion services.

This is an urgent matter and lives are at risk. People will die due to a lack of abortion services in Wisconsin. Reproductive Justice Action-Milwaukee is dedicated to making sure that the six Milwaukee County supervisors who voted no on this referendum will be held accountable for their action of denying the people of Milwaukee County their basic human rights.

#MilwaukeeWI #RoeVWade #reproductiveRights #AbortionRights #ReproductiveJusticeActionMilwaukeeRJAM