WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) marked the four-year anniversary of the United States Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade by hosting a virtual press conference alongside Planned Parenthood's Tanya Atkinson and Wisconsin storyteller Laurel Marcinkus from Kenosha. While women in Wisconsin lived under an 1849 criminal abortion ban for 18 months following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, 27 million women still live in states with abortion bans.

"When we talk about Roe being overturned, we're talking about half of Americans losing a constitutionally protected right and freedom to make their own decisions about their own bodies. While we won a hard-fought victory in restoring abortion access in Wisconsin, 69 out of our 72 counties still do not have access to this essential health care," said Senator Baldwin. "But Republicans and Donald Trump continue to chip away at what is left of women's right to choose. These attacks aren't going to stop unless we make clear in law that the government has no place making decisions for women, and I'm not throwing in the towel until that goal is reached."

"Dobbs did not create freedom-it created chaos. It replaced personal medical decisions with political interference, and women have paid the price. Four years later, the evidence is undeniable: when politicians make health care decisions, people get hurt," said Tanya Atkinson, CEO and President of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. "We need constitutional and statutory protections that guarantee every person-not the government-the right to make their own health care decisions."

"I became pregnant in the fall of 2022 but developed a life-threatening blood clot in my uterus between 20 and 21 weeks gestation. Doctors told me that my labor needed to be induced to save my life, but due to Wisconsin's abortion ban at the time, I had to wait hours for care as I bled. When my labor finally was induced, my daughter survived for two hours after birth before dying in my arms. I was so sick from waiting and bleeding, that it is difficult for me to recall the time that I did have with my daughter, which has been a great source of trauma for me. Not only did an abortion ban strip me of my rights and my ability to give my daughter a proper goodbye but it stripped me of my dignity too," said Laurel Marcinkus from Kenosha. "My daughter's name is Ember and for those who aren't aware, in a dwindling fire the ember is the last, lone flame that refuses to burn out. To me, it represents hope. To anyone who may hear my story and my truth, I ask you to please, carry the ember with you. Carry my daughter with you, carry my story with you and carry the same hope that I have for change."

Since the Dobbs decision overturned national protections for abortion under Roe v. Wade four years ago, American women have been feeling the impacts:

• 20 states now have total abortion bans or severe abortion restrictions.
• Nearly 40% of reproductive-age women - nearly 27 million women -live in states with bans, including more than half of Black women in the country.
• Nearly 63 million women and girls live in states with abortion bans or severe restrictions.
• More than 47 million women of reproductive age live in states where clinics have closed or where access to medication abortion is under attack.
• Women living in abortion ban states are nearly twice as likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or shortly after giving birth than women in states where abortion remains legal.
• Black mothers in abortion-ban states are 3.3 times more likely to die than white mothers in those states.
• In Texas, after the state's near-total abortion ban took effect, the rate of sepsis among women hospitalized for second-trimester pregnancy loss increased by more than 50%.

Senator Baldwin leads the entire Democratic caucus on legislation to restore Roe and safeguard abortion access - including banning requirements for medically unnecessary interventions like mandatory ultrasounds, counselling, or waiting periods. On Tuesday, she also introduced two bills to help offset the cost of travel-related expenses for women who are trying to get reproductive care and support training for health care providers and students who are forced to travel out-of-state to complete their education in comprehensive reproductive care.

A full recording of Senator Baldwin's virtual press conference on the Dobbs anniversary is available here.

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