Sen. Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) and Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) delivered signatures from over 15,000 Wisconsinites who support the Protect the Right to Contraception petition to Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature Thursday. 

Hesselbein and Subeck held a press conference Thursday morning urging the legislature to schedule a vote on the Right to Contraception Act before the 2023-24 legislative session concludes, according to a press release. 

“Since Roe was overturned in the summer of 2022, we’ve seen a continued and deliberate onslaught of people’s reproductive freedoms,” Hesselbein said. “From extremists legislators introducing bills that would ban IUDs and Plan B, to the recent Alabama Supreme Court shocking and terrifying ruling on frozen embryos.”

In 2012, the Wisconsin State Legislature repealed the Healthy Youth Act, eliminating one of the primary initiatives to educate the public on safe contraceptive use, Hesselbein said.

Advocate for contraception access Megan Lowe said her 15-year-old daughter has Rett syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that impacts speech and coordination.

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“As a parent, we try to teach our kids to stay safe,” Lowe said. “Stranger danger — yell ‘help,’ scream, fight back, run. My daughter can’t do any of those things. The likelihood of her being sexually assaulted in her lifetime is over 80% … I don’t think my daughter should have to carry a child.”

Lowe said the Protect the Right to Contraception Act is critical to ensuring the safety of her daughter and others who face disproportionate risks of sexual assault. Birth control is one part of essential healthcare that can prevent unintended pregnancies and health complications, Hesselbein said.

While Hesselbein said she is hopeful the legislation will pass, Republicans in the Assembly have refused to do committee work after March 12, despite the last session day being April 12, she said. In an interview with The Badger Herald, Hesselbein urged college students to contact their representatives to voice their concerns over access to contraceptive access.

“Whether it’s a medical necessity due to a health condition, whether it’s about a parent’s ability to best protect their child, every single individual in Wisconsin should have access to contraception should they need and want to,” Hesselbein said.