Abortion rights at issue in Wisconsin Supreme Court election

Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Maria Lazar, the conservative candidate running in the 2026 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, has in recent interviews praised the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade and suggested she wouldn’t have joined the majority in a 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that protected abortion rights in the state.

Unless other candidates join the race, which would make a primary election necessary, Lazar will face fellow Court of Appeals Judge Chris Taylor, a former Democratic state legislator, in the nonpartisan April 7 election to replace retiring conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley. Liberal justices currently hold a 4-3 majority on the state’s high court.

Taylor is a proponent of reproductive rights. Her campaign website says, “As an attorney, public servant, and now as judge, Chris Taylor has always believed in protecting the rights and freedoms of Wisconsinites.” It notes, “Prior to her legislative work, she was an attorney and policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, where she defended constitutional rights and advocated for health care access for all and for each individual to make their own personal, private health care decisions.”

“I think voters are entitled to see my values,” Taylor told the Wisconsin Independent in May. “I value women as a woman, as a mother. I have gone through pregnancies. I’ve given birth. I value women and families and individuals having the right to make those personal, private health care decisions. My values say that those are not decisions for politicians. Those are decisions for individuals with their doctors, so they can get the health care that they need.”



https://wisconsinindependent.com/politics/2026-supreme-court-election-maria-lazar-chris-taylor-abortion-rights/