MADISON, Wis. — On Wednesday, State Senate Candidate Sarah Keyeski and State Assembly Candidates Karen DeSanto and Elizabeth Grabe spoke out on Republicans’ extreme agenda on reproductive health—including threats to birth control, abortion care, and IVF. 

Speakers highlighted how Republicans like Joan Ballweg and Todd Novak have voted against Wisconsinites’ reproductive freedoms, putting extremist anti-abortion groups and Donald Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda ahead of Wisconsin families. Meanwhile, Democrats are fighting to protect and restore reproductive freedom for Wisconsinites. 

Watch the press event here and see what speakers had to say, in part, below:

State Senate Candidate Sarah Keyeski: “Democrats like Karen DeSanto, Elizabeth Grabe and I are committed to protecting women’s reproductive freedoms and health care access, but unfortunately, Republicans in Wisconsin are hell-bent on depriving us of reproductive health care even to the extent of potentially prosecuting those who would provide us care. Take my opponent, for example. Joan Ballweg has been in our legislature for 20 years, and in this time, she has voted against women’s reproductive freedom time and time again. Even before Roe was overturned, Joan Ballweg was working to restrict women’s reproductive freedoms. […] But Democrats know that these extreme policies are not what the majority of Wisconsinites want. In fact, most Wisconsinites support restoring reproductive health care access. […] I will fight for our reproductive freedom when I am elected to the state Senate, and now, under new fair maps, Wisconsinites have an opportunity to elect not only myself and the two other candidates standing with me here today, but Democrats up and down the ballot who will support their access to reproductive health care.”

State Assembly Candidate Karen DeSanto: “Like many of my constituents, I grew up under the protections of Roe v. Wade, but now living in a world where my daughter now has fewer rights than I did. This is not okay, and I know I’m not the only parent in Wisconsin that feels that way. We must restore reproductive freedom in Wisconsin once and for all and protect women’s access to reproductive health going forward so that not only do we have access to safe and legal abortion care but also IVF and birth control. […] It’s unconscionable that Wisconsin Republicans had the opportunity to protect women in our state and restore our freedoms, and they said no. I’m proud to say today that I will vote to strike Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban from statute so that women across our state can have a real choice again when it comes to their reproductive freedoms. […] We know where Republicans in our Legislature stand on abortion and reproductive care, but what may be even scarier is not knowing where someone stands at all. The voters in my district know where I stand, and they know they can count on me to protect our freedoms and not take them away.”

State Assembly Candidate Elizabeth Grabe: “When you talk to everyday Wisconsinites like Sarah, Karen, and I do in our districts, we find that it isn’t as partisan as the politicians in Madison would have you believe. In fact, over half of Wisconsinites polled say they support abortion being legal in most or all cases, and most Wisconsinites, regardless of political party, want national protections for women’s reproductive health care. […] But thankfully, Wisconsinites have an opportunity this fall to elect Democrats like me in new competitive districts under fair maps. Democrats who stand with the majority of Wisconsinites and will fight to restore and protect our reproductive freedoms. I will vote to overturn the 1849 abortion ban and protect the right to choose in Wisconsin. My opponent [Todd Novak] cannot say the same.”