Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., spoke Friday evening at The Orpheum Theatre in Madison as part of the Harris-Walz campaign’s “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” bus tour. 

With only 39 days remaining until the 2024 election, the congresswoman stressed the importance of voting to protect Americans’ reproductive freedoms. 

“It’s right here in Wisconsin that is the front line of the fight on reproductive rights, not just for folks in this state, or in the region, but also nationally, because Wisconsin is a must-win state,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Just as Americans saw in 2020, student voter turnout will play a critical role in the outcome of this election, especially in Wisconsin, Ocasio-Cortez told The Badger Herald after the rally.

“With a race this close in several states across the country, where the margin comes down to one to two points, we are going to have to put together our entire coalition, and young people are a critical, core element of that coalition,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

At the rally, Ocasio-Cortez said every American has their own story of choice, or the lack of it, recounting her experience with sexual assault and the uncertainty she faced about a potential pregnancy. 

Ocasio-Cortez added that while the circumstances leading up to possibly being pregnant were out of her control, she was comforted by the agency she held over how to proceed moving forward.

“While I didn’t know what I would choose in that moment, I knew that I could choose,” Ocasio-Cortez said. I knew that the choice itself would be mine and mine alone, not a court’s, not a lobbyist’s, not a politician’s, but mine.”

Friday’s rally also featured remarks from Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, reproductive rights advocate Kate Cox, Planned Parenthood Wisconsin President Tanya Atkinson, University of Wisconsin medical student Samantha Crowley and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler. 

Gov. Evers highlighted his administration’s efforts to protect reproductive freedom in Wisconsin, criticizing Republican officials for their support of abortion bans.

“Millions of women in America today are treated like second-class citizens. All across the country, Republican politicians who know nothing about your family, your faith, your health or your circumstances are trying to take away your reproductive freedom,” Evers said.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, healthcare providers in Wisconsin discontinued abortion services in fear of violating a state law from 1849 that banned nearly all forms of the procedure, according to Wisconsin Watch.

In 2023, a Dane County judge ruled that the law does not apply to abortions performed with the consent of the mother, causing Planned Parenthood Wisconsin to resume providing abortion care at their Madison, Milwaukee and Sheboygan locations.

Samantha Crowley, a student at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, recounted her dismay at being unable to learn how to conduct abortions during the 451 days where the procedure was effectively illegal. 

“There was no other medical procedure that we as medical students were banned from learning how to do,” Crowley said. “It’s medical school. That’s what we’re here to learn.”

Crowley added that this experience has shown her the importance of electing a president committed to protecting Americans’ reproductive freedoms.

Supporters in the crowd commented on Ocasio-Cortez’s relatability and strength.

Laurie, a medical student at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, said she was inspired by Ocasio-Cortez’s speech at the Democratic National Convention this August, especially her line about being criticized by Republicans for her past job as a bartender.

“Like she said, there is nothing wrong with working for a living, and I’m glad she came to Wisconsin because people in this state embody that more than in other places,” Laurie said. “Everybody in the Midwest works so hard, and I think she’s a really good surrogate to come to our state and speak to that.”

Edward Zapala, a social worker in Madison, said he came to the event with his family to support reproductive rights. 

“AOC’s pretty badass too, so we wanted to come out and let our daughter get exposed to this world a little bit,” Zapala said.

Ocasio-Cortez told The Badger Herald that establishing a trifecta — where a party holds majorities in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government — is a Democratic party goal this election to begin the process of codifying the constitutional right to abortion, restoring Roe v. Wade as the law of the land.

The congresswoman wrapped up the rally by criticizing Republicans’ rhetoric around abortion. 

“Democracy relies on the consent of the governed, and I have a message for this conservative Supreme Court and to Donald J. Trump, which is that we do not consent to their leadership.” Ocasio-Cortez said.