Schimel says he would review arguments on whether constitution protects abortion rights
State Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel has previously said it would be a ‘sham’ to find such rights in the Wisconsin Constitution.
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel said in a television interview aired on March 25 that he would have to see specific legal arguments to determine whether the state constitution protects abortion rights.
He has previously said, however, that it does not.
Schimel, a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge and a former Republican state attorney general, is running in the April 1, 2025, general election against Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford. Throughout the campaign, Crawford has criticized Schimel for claiming to be an impartial judge while promising to advance right-wing political priorities.
In his latest interview, broadcast on Milwaukee’s CBS 58, reporter Emilee Fannon noted Schimel’s anti-abortion comments and asked, “Haven’t you already telegraphed how you would rule on future abortion cases, just given your support here in this race from [Susan B. Anthony] Pro-Life America and other anti-abortion groups here in the state?”
Schimel responded: “I didn’t know I had that support. I’m focusing on my own race. I haven’t telegraphed anything, except to say I will follow the law. I’ve talked about my personal life experience to explain to people where I come from. … But my personal views are utterly irrelevant. As a judge, I will apply the law.”
Asked if he believes there is a constitutional right to an abortion, Schimel said: “The word abortion doesn’t appear in the Wisconsin Constitution. Everyone agrees on that. So if there’s any argument to be made that there is an inference that supports a constitutional right to an abortion somewhere, I’d have to see the legal arguments. I’d have to understand, how do you come to that conclusion.”
The Schimel campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Schimel has previously made clear that he does not support abortion rights and does not believe they are constitutionally protected.
He co-signed a 2012 Wisconsin Right to Life white paper urging that the 1849 state law that had been used to ban abortion be kept on the books in case the U.S. Supreme Court someday overturned the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade affirming a federal constitutional right to an abortion, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The outlet reported that Schimel said in 2024: “We just said, ‘No, just leave it. You never know. If the Supreme Court does reverse Roe v. Wade, well then we have a law on the books.’”
In an attorney general campaign debate in 2014, Schimel said: “I believe that life begins at conception and I am pro-life.”
In the current campaign, he repeatedly defended the validity of the 1849 law. At a campaign stop in Chilton, according to the New York Times, Schimel said: “There is not a constitutional right to abortion in our State Constitution. That will be a sham if they find that.”
In a March 12 debate, Schimel said: “No judge or justice should be deciding this issue for the voters of Wisconsin. This issue belongs in their hands.”
Crawford is endorsed in the race by the pro-abortion rights organization EMILY’s List, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, and Reproductive Freedom for All, but has not spoken on abortion or other issues that might come before the judiciary. “I’m not in a position to weigh in at this point,” she said at the March 12 debate. “It would be prejudicial to the parties in that case for me to do so.”
In an emailed statement, Crawford campaign spokesperson Maddie Moher told the Wisconsin Independent: “Brad Schimel is an extreme politician who wants to ban abortion with no exceptions for rape, incest, or health of the mother. Schimel has made it clear behind closed doors he would strip women of their right to make their own health care decisions. Brad Schimel is too extreme for Wisconsin women.”
