RACINE, Wis. — It's not on the statewide ballot, but some Wisconsin voters will be able to sound off on the state's 1849 abortion law when they head to the polls.
Getting a non-binding 'yes' or 'no' question about abortion on the ballot that has no legal weight was hard to do. We do know it is on at least two ballots in the state: The City of Racine and in Dane County.
The question on the Racine ballot asks if the 1849 Wisconsin abortion law should be repealed.
City of Racine voters we spoke to say it was an important part of the reason why they came to the polls early.
"You never know the situation they're in you know, incest..." said early Racine voter Ignacio Cruz.
"I feel like we need to speak up about it," said Mark Henderson.
Sue Henderson said after early voting, "I think it was really important that It was on there."
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in June, women in Southeast Wisconsin wanting an abortion have to travel over the border to Illinois where it is still legal.
Julie Uhal with Planned Parenthood of Illinois said, "Prior to the Dobbs decision, we would schedule maybe 100 patients from out of state every month, and that was coming from maybe a dozen states per month. In the first week after the Dobbs decision, we scheduled 750 out-of-state abortion appointments so the surge was really felt immediately."
Uhal says donations have helped their patient navigators pay for a woman's entire travel to get an abortion in Illinois.
Uhal says there is still confusion, "Traveling for care is an option and there is no criminalization that follows patients who cross state lines."
An issue that is likely to get more voters to the polls and voices heard.