“Ride to Decide” Bus Tour Kickoff in Madison Brings Together Religious Leaders, Health Care Providers, and Patient Advocates to Spotlight Harms of Abortion Bans and Demand Federal Action to Protect Reproductive Freedom
MADISON, WI –– Today, former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, State Representative Lisa Subeck (AD-78), and Mini Timmaraju, President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All joined religious leaders, health care providers, and patient advocates to kick off Free & Just’s nationwide “Ride to Decide” bus tour event in Madison. The Ride to Decide bus tour comes as conservatives at the Republican National Convention attempt to distance themselves from their long and shameful record of attacking access to abortion and reproductive health care. Support for legal abortion has increased since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, but that hasn’t stopped anti-abortion extremists and conservative lawmakers from continuing to undermine Americans’ access to abortion care, birth control, and IVF treatment.
At the event, local patient storytellers, health care providers, and community members shared how attacks on reproductive freedom harm women and families in Wisconsin and across the country.
“The extremists' anti-abortion playbook is nothing new, but it has expanded to include attacks on access to IVF treatment, restrictions on access to medication abortion, and even more,” said former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, who highlighted how attacks on access to reproductive health care continue to escalate. “Every time extremist lawmakers have an opportunity to protect access to reproductive health care at the federal level, they vote against freedom and they vote against American women. We need to do everything we can to hold these lawmakers accountable.”
“As an elected official, it is my role to ensure that individuals have access to the health care they need, when they need it. It is not my role to make personal decisions for them,” said State Representative Lisa Subeck, who represents the 78th Assembly District in Wisconsin. “Time and time again, extreme conservative politicians and elected officials here in Wisconsin and at the federal level have taken swipe after swipe at our rights. Our basic reproductive freedom is at risk – we cannot be free if we cannot make our own decisions about our bodies, our families, and our futures.”
“Two years after the Dobbs decision, we are still fighting every day. The threat is real,” said Mini Timmaraju, the President and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All. “Just over an hour away from where we are right now, anti-abortion extremists are trying to take away even more of our rights. We have to keep fighting to secure our freedoms.”
“Efforts to take away our freedoms didn’t stop at ending Roe – they only intensified,” said Dr. Kathy Hartke, a board certified OBGYN and the former dormer Chair of the Wisconsin Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Dr. Hartke urged the audience to learn more about Project 2025, the conservative policy agenda that lays bare what extremists plan to do next on abortion and reproductive freedom. “Abortion is mentioned 199 times throughout Project 2025, and the blueprint aims to prevent abortion from the moment of conception. This is scary, and if you have not already, I encourage you to look it up today.”
“While legislators and courts are rolling back reproductive rights, we know that the vast majority of Americans support access to abortion and reproductive health care,” said Reverend David Hart, a Pastor at the Sherman Avenue United Methodist Church of Madison. “Today, I am calling on each of you to fight back. We have to stand on the side of women, we have to stand on the side of justice, and we have to stand on the side of rights.”
“Right now is a moment that requires courage,” said Ali Muldrow, the Executive Director of Women’s Medical Fund Wisconsin, an organization that helps Wisconsinites access and pay for abortion care. Muldrow shared her experience accessing abortion care, and highlighted how important access to reproductive health care is for people in dangerous situations. “I am a survivor of domestic violence and I have often said that my ability to access abortion care saved my life. It allowed me to be here today as the person that I am.”
“I had consensual, protected sex. I didn’t realize the condom had broken until a month later when I was very sick,” said Dana Pellebon, the Executive Director of RCC Sexual Violence Resource Center in Dane County, who highlighted how empowering access to abortion care can be. “I had an abortion because I wanted to live my life in the way I needed to live it – and that is a choice I don’t regret.”
“Make no mistake – what extremist lawmakers are doing is not about morality, it’s about power and control,” said Reverend Tim Schaefer, a Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Madison and a member of the Wisconsin Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. “People of all faiths, and those who do not subscribe to any particular faith, must stand together against this siege on our freedoms before we lose our right to make decisions about our own health, families, and futures.”
“Just weeks ago, Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted against the Right to Contraception Act, “ said Irene Strohbeen, the Acting President of the Appleton Area chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). “The overturning of Roe and the Senate voting against expanding access to contraception are part of a slippery slope – and we don’t like where we’re see this going.”
The “Ride to Decide” tour is headed to Milwaukee, Wisconsin next, where local storytellers will spotlight the real-life impacts of abortion bans and attacks on reproductive freedom and share why federal action to protect access to abortion and reproductive health care has never been more important.
If you would like footage or photos from the event or are interested in speaking with any of the participants in the press event, please contact kelly@freeandjust.us.
Free & Just is committed to fighting for reproductive freedom. Join us in sharing stories, raising voices, and securing our future.
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Free & Just is fighting to stop attacks on reproductive freedom and rights. We’re working with people across the country to share real stories to show the devastating consequences of attacks on our reproductive freedom. We all deserve the right to control our bodies and lives. That’s why we’re sharing our stories, raising our voices, and fighting for our future.