By: Senator Roger Roth
Just over a month ago, Politico obtained a first draft of the opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared poised to overrule Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood. While a leak of this nature is unprecedented in modern times and is sure to cause untold damage to the operation of the Court as an institution moving forward, the reaction to the preliminary opinion has exposed the radical left’s disdain for our republic’s institutions and norms.
From the immoral and potentially unlawful picketing and harassment of Supreme Court Justices in their homes by a group called Ruth Sent Us, to the vandalism of crisis pregnancy centers, harassment of churches this past Mother’s Day, attempted firebombing of a Wisconsin pro-life office, and the plotted assassination of a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice, the radical left, including those in the media, have embraced violence calling for “more of [the firebombing of Family Action]. May these people never know a moment of peace of safety until they rot in the ground.”
Last month, a new radical group took credit for the attack in Madison, stating that “this was only a warning” and demanding the disbanding of all pro-life clinics and organizations within the next 30 days, “that Wisconsin is the first flashpoint,” and that their counterparts across the United States will continue their “war” and adoption of “military requirement for a political struggle” if their actions are not met. Those 30 days have come and gone with the group now declaring “the leash is off…” that they have “demonstrated how easy and fun it is to attack” and that their subsequent actions will not be “so easily cleaned as fire and graffiti.”
This is the exact type of domestic terrorism that many on the left, including those in office, have accused their political opponents of for decades. Yet, while Tony Evers and Josh Kaul issued pillow-soft statements, they continue to raise money from their base, penning fundraising drive after fundraising drive on the Court’s draft opinion that would, in their words, “turn back the clock” here in Wisconsin.
With the threat to the safety of countless Wisconsinites at stake, Tony Evers and Josh Kaul should take meaningful action to combat this domestic terrorism here in Wisconsin. Instead of ramping up their efforts to vilify a draft opinion of the Court or issuing reckless press releases like those that fanned the flames in Kenosha, they should both be taking real, meaningful action to ensure the safety and security of Wisconsinites.
First, they should immediately partner with local law enforcement and the FBI to investigate and prosecute the attack on Family Action and root out planned attacks on crisis pregnancy centers, pro-life organizations, and Wisconsinites statewide.
Second, the Governor and Attorney General should immediately partner with local law enforcement to provide preemptive protection to clinics, businesses, and non-profits that protestors may target for their personal beliefs, just like the security provided for abortion clinics.
Third, Tony Evers should lead in word and action – making clear that the institutions and norms of our republic matter, not just when they adhere to the decisions that are politically expedient and favorable to their liberal politics, but particularly when they do not. That includes declaring that the conclusion of the U.S. Supreme Court is legitimate, binding, and the law of the land.
It is telling that the radical left that perpetrates these heinous acts targeted a Supreme Court Justice, Brett Kavanaugh, and that they rarely address the underlying draft opinion in Roe. Instead, they speak in broad platitudes rather than specific legal defenses of Roe which both pro-life and pro-abortion advocates have long criticized due to the underlying weakness of its rationale.
While we await a final decision in Dobbs, it is clear that our state and nation need to take concrete steps to defend the safety of our people, religious institutions, non-profits, and businesses. Credible and violent threats abound, and we cannot afford to wait until the next attack. Proactive engagement with law enforcement and vigorous prosecution of those guilty of these acts is necessary to ensure that our republic continues to function peacefully.
Tony Evers vetoed numerous pieces of public safety legislation this session, released violent offenders and refused to dismiss negligent District Attorneys. He did not learn the lessons of the violent riots in Kenosha and the attacks on the State Capitol in the summer of 2020, the record-breaking homicides of 2021, or the current carjacking epidemic in Milwaukee. His recent call for a special session to legalize abortion up until the moment its born is no different and amounts to half-baked political stunts trying to gin up his base in the face of a potentially devastating election cycle.
I can only hope that with the firebombing of a non-profit less than three miles from the Governor’s Mansion, the attempted assassination of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and the promise for more violence, Governor Tony Evers takes the side of law and order. But I won’t hold my breath.
If we do not take meaningful steps to ensure the safety of our people, it is clear that in the coming weeks, violent extremists will seek to upend the rule of law.
That is something that we cannot, and will not, tolerate.
About Senator Roger Roth
Roger Roth, candidate for Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor, is a husband and father to five boys, a Captain and 17-year member of the WI Air National Guard and a residential homebuilder in the Fox Valley.
