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Ruden, thanks for
explaining all this to us.

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>> Thank you. Fredricka.
>> Just last year, the

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Wisconsin Supreme Court
overturned the state's 1849

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abortion ban, the 4 to 3
decision by the Liberal

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majority settled the legal
question of which state

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statute governs abortion.
But that doesn't mean the

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topic won't be a big factor
in the ad campaign. In this

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spring's race for a seat on
the Supreme Court, that

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race is between
conservative Judge Maria

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Lazar and Liberal Judge
Chris Taylor "Here& Now".

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Senior political reporter
Zac Schultz sat down with

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the candidates and has the
story.

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>> In 2022, the United
States Supreme Court

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scrambled the political
world with the Dobbs

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decision overturning Roe
versus Wade and returning

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the issue of abortion to
the states. In Wisconsin,

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that meant an 1849 abortion
ban went back into effect.

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>> As we fight to protect
and now restore

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reproductive freedom in
Wisconsin.

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>> The Democratic Attorney
general, Josh Kaul, filed a.

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>> Lawsuit saying a more
recent abortion law passed

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by Republicans when Roe was
still in effect, nullified

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the 1849 ban. The court
agreed with the Liberal

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majority deciding the case
by one vote. This election

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will fill the seat of the
retiring conservative

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Justice Rebecca Bradley. So
if Judge Taylor or Judge

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Lazar had been on that case,
it wouldn't have changed

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the outcome. But we wanted
to know if they agreed with

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the court's decision.
>> So I agree with the

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decision that the 1849 law
should not be implemented

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based on laws that had been
passed since then that

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directly conflict with it.
I think that that was the

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right decision by the
majority on the state

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Supreme Court. Again, it
was by one vote. This

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really contrasts with my
opponent. My opponent would

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have voted to implement an
1849 abortion ban that was

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passed when I couldn't vote
and many people couldn't

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vote. So I think it was
really the right decision

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by our state Supreme Court.
And that's a big point of

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difference between myself
and my opponent.

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>> I'm not going to say how
it would rule, but I will

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say what I will do moving
forward, and I have put

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that in positions. I've
released a statement, I've

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released an op ed talking
about abortion and

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indicating that this is a
really complicated issue

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for the woman, and her life
is so valuable and

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important. And I've
indicated that 1 I respect

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the rule as decided by the
state Supreme Court. I will

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only be one of three
members in the majority in

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the minority, so I won't be
changing that. And two, I

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think women in the state
need clarity. They need

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certainty. And three, you
need to lower the

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temperature on this issue.
This is resolved as far as

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I'm concerned, for courts,
for the judiciary. The

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legislature can do what
they want, and the people

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in the state of Wisconsin
can do what they want. But

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the judiciary, it's clear
the judiciary, it's clear