Milwaukee, WI - Yesterday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel rejected Representative Jim Ott's efforts to silence Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin's (PPWI) and NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Foundation's efforts to inform the public about Ott's extreme voting record on abortion.  The campaign exposes the anti-choice votes of Reps. Ott, Honadel, Van Roy and Huebsch as part of their joint "How Much Time Should She Do?" campaign.

Since the campaign began, Ott has sent multiple defamatory press releases and emails to PPWI and NARAL demanding that the campaign cease as well as making other disparaging and unsubstantiated allegations.

A legal analysis, prepared by Quarles & Brady, was submitted to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after Ott demanded the Journal pull the ad campaign.  The legal analysis, confirmed the ads were factual and legally sound and the Journal made the decision to continue the ad campaign.

Lisa Boyce, vice president for public affairs of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said, "Our ads are truthful, they are based on Ott's undisputed voting record, and we are vindicated by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's decision to continue our campaign based on the facts.  To Jim Ott, we say that your actions speak louder than your words." She went on to say that Ott's deceptive tactics would not deter the organizations from educating voters about his record.

"If Rep. Ott truly wants to make sure no Wisconsin women is ever sent to prison for having an abortion, we invite him to join our efforts to finally get the 1849 criminal abortion statute off the books," stated Kelda Helen Roys, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. "We should not leave it to chance - or the courts - to decide whether women will once again be treated like criminals for having an abortion."

Ott's reckless accusations that the ads are "patently false" are themselves false and defamatory, and intended to obscure his voting record from the public and intimidate those who hold him accountable for his votes about how rape victims should be treated.

MYTH #1: Ott (and his cohorts) do not support criminal penalties for rape and incest victims seeking abortions. ["I have never advocated that abortion should be illegal for rape victims." Ott letter to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 11, 2008]

FACT: Ott supports Wis. Stat. 940.04, which criminalizes abortion including for women and girls who are raped or victims of incest. It contains criminal penalties, including prison time, for women who have abortions. Ott voted against a recent attempt to exclude only victims of rape and incest from the criminal abortion ban, which would have removed the possibility that prosecutors could attempt to imprison them. (AA2 to AB 710, Feb 28, 2008). Furthermore, Ott's lack of care for women who are raped is not limited to one incident: he also voted against the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Act, AB 377, which ensures that emergency rooms provide rape victims with access to emergency birth control following an assault.

MYTH #2: Wisconsin women could never be prosecuted for having an abortion. ["...state law is very clear about not penalizing a woman who has had an abortion." Ott news release, March 7, 2008]

FACT: As long as 940.04 remains on the books, there is the possibility that Wisconsin women could go to jail for having an abortion. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of prosecutors - any one of whom could attempt to enforce it if Roe v. Wade is reversed. Women who have abortions could be investigated, harassed, intimidated, interrogated, charged and prosecuted.

Ott claims that because the legislature passed 940.13 (which prohibits punishing women for violations of 940.04) after 940.04, the later statue makes it impossible for the earlier statute to be used. This is incorrect - any time statutes conflict, regardless of when they were originally passed, the courts must resolve the conflict if the legislature does not.

As the independent legal memo states, "A real question of law exists that would require either: (i) a definitive decision by the highest level of the judicial branch or (ii) legislative attention resulting in clear and unequivocal legislative action to repeal sections 940.04 (1), (2), (3), & (4)." The independent memo further states that "giving effect to a later enacted statute is not the only rule of statutory construction," and emphasizes that there is no way to be certain that every court would apply the rules of statutory construction in the way Ott suggests.

Ott's claim that women could never be prosecuted for having an abortion is false and based on an incomplete understanding of existing Wisconsin law, and the rules of statutory construction.

MYTH #3: Abortion is legal in Wisconsin, so the legislature doesn't need to act to ensure it stays legal. ["Right now abortion is legal in the United States because of the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade... The State Legislature cannot overturn a U.S. Supreme Court decision." Ott letter to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 11, 2008]

FACT: The US Supreme Court is moving in an anti-choice direction, especially with the recent appointment of two new anti-choice justices by President Bush.  Pro-choice and anti-choice legal analysts agree that it is possible, and perhaps likely, that the Court will overturn Roe v. Wade. If that happens, abortion would immediately be a crime once again in Wisconsin. The Legislature must act to repeal 940.04 in its entirety to ensure that abortion remains safe and legal in Wisconsin.

 

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