In January, we marked the 35th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that established a woman’s right to have an abortion. While a cause for celebration, the anniversary also reminds pro-choice advocates that Roe is still on fragile ground.

Many rights that Wisconsin women take for granted are in need of protection more than ever. With attacks on choice coming from fundamentalist extremists, anti-choice members of Congress and a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court, we must now look to state leaders to protect our fundamental rights. This November, it is not just the presidential election that needs our attention — who wins the state Legislature is critical as well.

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin recently released its 2007-2008 Legislative Scorecard (http://www.prochoicewisconsin.org/). The scorecard exposes the anti-choice politicians in the state Legislature and their anti-privacy, anti-birth control, anti-women voting record. Shockingly, almost half of the elected officials received Ds or Fs for their lifetime voting record. These so-called “leaders” are failing Wisconsin women.

However, we are pleased to report that there are a growing number of pro-choice leaders in Wisconsin. Fully 19 more legislators than last session received a “C” or better — which proves that elections matter, and that when faced with the facts, legislators who used to be seen as reliable anti-choice votes are now putting the brakes on an extremist agenda.

This year, we also celebrated the passage of the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims bill, the first piece of pro-choice legislation Wisconsin has passed in more than a decade. This bill ensures all rape victims are given information about and access to emergency contraception, regardless of which hospital they visit. We congratulate the Legislature and Gov. Jim Doyle for making this common-sense legislation a law.

In addition, only one anti-choice bill was introduced during the 2007-’08 legislative session, an abrupt change from recent sessions. Anti-choice legislators were forced on the defensive when explaining their positions against legislation to ensure the full range of reproductive options for Wisconsin women, including comprehensive sex education, greater access to birth control and freedom to breast-feed in public.

But we have a long way to go. Wisconsin currently has a criminal abortion ban on the books. Under this law, if a woman receives an abortion — even a victim of rape or incest — she could be threatened with jail time. Of course, the Wisconsin abortion ban is currently unenforceable, because of Roe. But if Roe was overturned, the criminal abortion ban would immediately come into effect in Wisconsin.

When given the chance this year to make it clear that rape victims should never go to jail for having an abortion, more than 50 members of the state Assembly voted no.

Wisconsin must pass “A Roe of Our Own,” to keep abortion a safe, legal option for all Wisconsin women, no matter what happens in Washington.

The future of reproductive rights is in our hands. Pro-choice activists worked throughout the 1960s and 1970s to ensure all American women the right to a safe and legal abortion. Their fight has become our fight.

Carousel Bayrd is chair of the NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Foundation; Sachin Chheda is president of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin.