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UPDATE, May 12, 5:16 PM CST: This report has been updated to include additional comment from Sen. Johnson’s office.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin landed in hot water this week for comments made to The Wall Street Journal that appeared to suggest a passivity on abortion after the issue is returned to the democratic process of individual states.
Last week, Politico published a leaked draft of a majority opinion by conservative Justice Samuel Alito for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which concerns Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban. The draft declares that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” and therefore it is “time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” In response, the Court announced the draft was authentic but “does not represent a final decision by the court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”
It remains unclear whether the draft represents a final decision to overturn Roe, is a tentative decision subject to change, was prepared in anticipation of a majority to overturn, or was written in hopes of persuading Alito’s colleagues to sign on. Regardless, the leak has sent shockwaves across the political spectrum, with pro-lifers tentatively rejoicing, pro-abortion politicians and activists lashing out in anger, and many speculating that the leak may have been intended to pressure judges to flip their votes, or to incite hatred and threats against them.
On Wednesday, WSJ covered that day’s failed Senate vote on the so-called Women’s Health Protection Act, a Democrat bill to enshrine abortion on demand in federal law, forcing all 50 states to allow the practice to go on virtually unregulated regardless of what happens to Roe.
Among those who provided comment to the story was Johnson, who said that a post-Roe world “might be a little messy for some people, but abortion is not going away,” and that he wasn’t sure if Wisconsin’s pre-Roe abortion ban that remains on the books would take effect again if Roe really is overturned. Johnson also reportedly noted that even it it did, Wisconsin residents would still be able to drive to neighboring Illinois for abortions.
Asked Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth about this, she said:
"That is really an irresponsible statement for a senator to make" and said "the vast majority of people who are seeking abortion are folks who may not have the resources" to travel to an abortion— Natalie Andrews (@nataliewsj) May 11, 2022
The statement was met with derision from both ends of the issue, with leftists like Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois attacking the prospect of driving to her state as overly expensive or difficult for many abortion seekers, and others suggesting that his words indicated a level of indifference to the act that betrayed a lack of conviction on the issue:
Notable quotable.
GOP Senate candidates in Wisconsin and Nevada sounding more "pro-choice" than "pro-life" https://t.co/z0CxcZJMl2
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) May 11, 2022
Again, this position is utterly incoherent. You cannot say you’re against legal abortion because you think it’s state sanctioned murder and then be perfectly fine with people driving to Chicago to do it. https://t.co/OpiC2kRuvq
— Political JaVale McGee (@PoliticalJM7) May 11, 2022
JFC I thought "pro life" meant "against all abortion", not "I'm cool with it as long as it's in a different state."
These people are so morally hollow they can't even stick to their guns on the issue that drives most of their Christian base to the polls. https://t.co/BhApFPBhTD
— Jake McCormick 🏆 🦌 (@Jake_BrewHoop) May 12, 2022
LifeSiteNews reached out to the senator’s office for comment and was referred to a statement Johnson made after the WHPA vote in which he said he has “always felt the determination of when society has the responsibility to protect life, including the unborn, should be made through the democratic process in each state. The fact that nine unelected justices made that decision for the entire nation did not settle the issue, it only delayed the necessary societal debate for 50 years. We will now have that debate. Hopefully, it can be conducted with sincerity, compassion, and respect for the broad range of views that people hold.”
“The senator was not condoning or suggesting any action, but speaking to the reality of the current environment in the backdrop of extremist actions and rhetoric undertaken by the radical left,” a spokesperson from Johnson’s office told LifeSiteNews. “The office of a pro-life Wisconsin group was recently firebombed. Illinois Democratic Gov. Pritzker, recently vowed to be the Midwest’s abortion ‘safe haven.’”
“The senator has voted consistently to protect the most vulnerable among us – the unborn – and signed onto an amicus brief in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case now being considered by the Supreme Court, to uphold Mississippi’s law protecting life,” the spokesperson added.
Regarding the meat of Johnson’s position, while pro-life Americans would be overjoyed by restoring states’ ability to directly set their own abortion laws, any politician hoping that change would defuse abortion as a national issue is sure to be disappointed.
As made clear in recent days, abortion activists will continue to push federal codification of “reproductive freedom” after Roe. Further, the pro-life movement sees the issue as one of basic human rights, not simple federalism, and so will continue to expect Republicans to work toward “a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth,” as promised by the party platform.
Johnson’s moderate remarks on abortion come as a something of a surprise in light of his 100% pro-life voting record and the reputation he has established in the current session for more hardline stances on other issues, such as the COVID-19 vaccines and the Biden family’s business dealings with China.
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