By james art 
WATERTOWN, Wis. – Wisconsin women tell The Post that codifying Roe into federal law is a priority for them in this election, even if it involves some restrictions, reflecting state polling trends.
Kamala Harris supporters who spoke to The Post cited reproductive rights as a major issue in the election, but were divided on whether the federal abortion access law should include any restrictions. Meanwhile, supporters of Donald Trump and pro-life voters in the state thought the issue should remain in the hands of the states.
As soon as Roe v. Wade was overturned, Wisconsin reverted to an 1849 law governing abortion that effectively banned the practice. After 15 months, the law was declared unenforceable and abortion services resumed with existing restrictions, including an approximately 20-week ban.
Peg VanBryce, 71, a Green Bay retiree and Harris supporter, opposes any kind of restrictions. “You’ve got to leave it up to the guy,” Vanbrice told The Post outside of a Harris rally in Green Bay this month. “To take that decision away is wrong.”
Heather Strayer, 53, is a school social worker in Green Bay. She told The Post that she was uncomfortable with a ban after a certain gestational age. “I wish we let a woman and her doctor make the choice. I don’t know if I agree with one number [of weeks].”
Outside Harris’ town hall with Liz Cheney in the red county of Waukesha, Kelly Harrigan, 57, a project manager at a software company, told The Post she’s comfortable with putting state provisions into a federal abortion access law — enough ultimately to respect a woman’s right to choose.
Rebecca Shepherd, 53, said her main concern this election is reproductive health.
“What I want for my daughters is the ability to make health care decisions without the government restricting her or her health care providers,” she told The Post.
Sheppard, who lives in the Brookfield area and works in sales, said she hasn’t considered what she thinks about post-viability restrictions, but the alternative — a Trump presidency — is unacceptable, “even if there are certain restrictions or challenges to restoring Roe v .Wade.
Waiting in line with her for the Harris event was Heather Gergen, 53, a marketing photographer, who agreed: “It’s important for women to have agency over their own bodies in every way.”
Laura Palus, 56, runs a non-profit organization that supports pregnant women in need. Speaking to The Post outside Trump’s school choice event in Milwaukee earlier this month, Palus said Trump is a “great pro-life president” and she’s pleased with his first term.
“The world is different right now, and I believe abortion needs to come back to the states,” Palus said. She believes it is now “up to people to do the work” to convince people that “a child in the womb one day is a person”.
Retired nurse Sandy Hansen-Harsh of Waukesha County told The Post at a Republican watch party for the vice presidential debate that she believes in a woman’s right to choose, but that states should have the “prerogative to impose abortion parameters.” .
Pam Ruczynski, who said she was very involved in the pro-life movement, thought leaving the issue to the states was a rational, sensible proposition, but the anger directed at the pro-life movement after Roe left her stunned.
“Even Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Roe was a weak decision,” Ruczynski said, possibly referring to the late justice’s astute warnings about the malleability of the landmark decision.
The pro-life advocate favors restrictions, especially those that ban late-term abortions, and supports giving women more information about their options.
“You can’t unsee the mother and for us, you can’t unsee the baby,” she said.
Ruczynski says the way forward for pro-lifers is to help all women, including those who terminate their pregnancies.
“It’s always been about helping women from the beginning.”
In the latest poll by Marquette Law School, 63 percent of registered voters in Wisconsin said they think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. The percentage of voters who think abortion should be legal in all cases has fallen over the last few polls to 27% from 34% in September, the lowest level since June 2022.
Just over a third of registered voters in Wisconsin think abortion should be illegal in most or all cases.
Harris has made abortion access a central issue of the campaign, as Trump has consistently outperformed her on economic and immigration issues.
She proposed eliminating the filibuster so Roe could push a federal abortion access law through Congress with just 51 votes, and announced she would not make concessions on abortion rights to reach a compromise with a Republican-controlled Congress if be elected president.
Trump, who proudly boasts of appointing several of the justices who made up the 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade, has said he would veto a national abortion ban. Harris has repeatedly misrepresented the former president’s stance on abortion and continues to claim he wants to ban abortion nationwide.