Michael Screnock’s Candidacy Not Thing to Celebrate on International Women’s Day

MADISON, Wis. — International Women’s Day has been observed for over a century as an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the achievements of women around the world. It is also a day to think about the vast amounts of work which still need to be done to achieve equality, as well as eliminating barriers that stand in the way. According to One Wisconsin Now Research Director Joanna Beilman-Dulin those barriers include men like Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Michael Screnock.

“Today we celebrate women and recognize our achievements. But we also must acknowledge the work left to do to achieve gender equality and the challenges to overcome, like men such as Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Michael Screnock, who opposes our right to make our own decisions about our own bodies,” said One Wisconsin Now Research Director Joanna Beilman-Dulin.

Screnock was arrested twice for seeking to physically prevent women from accessing legal health care at an abortion clinic. In a recent media interview he said, “… it’s not something I’ve ever regretted doing.”

Screnock is also endorsed by a radical right wing group that wants to ban abortion in all circumstances, even when the life of the mother is in danger, and to outlaw birth control.

Beilman-Dulin noted the Screnock campaign’s largest benefactor is the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), spending nearly $600,000 on television ads to boost his campaign in the primary election. In recent years, the group issued a fundraising plea seeking corporate donations for a campaign to promote their agenda by raising the specter of paying men and women the same for doing the same job as a radical, anti-business idea threatening our economy.

She concluded, “There are many things for women to lift up and celebrate on International Women’s Day, but the candidacy of Michael Screnock is not one of them.”