A private attorney who worked as an attorney and public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced she is running for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The announcement follows another former Planned Parenthood’s successful bid to be elected to the same state Supreme Court earlier this year.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor is running to unseat current Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley, who is running for reelection.
- Taylor has spent her career as a private attorney, judge, state legislator, and an attorney and public policy director for Planned Parenthood.
- She implied she may not recuse herself from abortion-related cases despite her Planned Parenthood advocacy work.
- If elected, she would be the second former Planned Parenthood attorney on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
THE DETAILS:
On May 20, Taylor, 57, announced she is running for justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She has boasted a 30-year career as an attorney and judge, as well as a state legislator, and she claims to fight for freedom.
Taylor also worked as an attorney and public policy director for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and has insinuated that she may not recuse herself from abortion-related cases if elected.
“I worked for Planned Parenthood 15 years ago. You usually do not see judges recuse themselves because they worked for a law firm that had an attorney appear before them,” she said. “But it’s on a case-by-case basis. I take it seriously.”
During her time as a legislator, Taylor sponsored at least two pro-abortion bills, neither of which passed. It proves that she isn’t just an attorney who happened to represent Planned Parenthood; she has actively worked to advance abortion.
“My values are that women and families should have the ability to make their most personal, private health care decisions,” Taylor told WPR. “But as a judge, what I do every single day is look at the facts of the case and apply the law in the most fair way possible.”
In her announcement, Taylor criticized her opponent, Justice Rebecca Bradley, who is running for a second ten-year term. Taylor claimed Bradley “is very political and has a right-wing agenda…”
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case brought by Planned Parenthood, which seeks to make abortion a constitutional right. It has yet to schedule a date for oral arguments. It is believed that the case will be heard before the election is completed and the new justice takes their seat in August 2026.
THE BACKSTORY:
Earlier this year, another former Planned Parenthood attorney, Susan Crawford, was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She helped the abortion giant overturn a 2011 Wisconsin law that required abortionists to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion facility.
During her election, she told voters she would not recuse herself from abortion-related cases, saying “[t]he law does not require judges to automatically recuse just because they have done some kind of legal work in the past as a lawyer.”
If Taylor is also elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, that would mean two former Planned Parenthood attorneys will have a seat on the state’s powerful court at the same time. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling this summer in a challenge it heard last year to the state’s 1849 abortion ban law.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Currently, Wisconsin allows abortion before 20 weeks for any reason and after 20 weeks in certain circumstances, including to protect the health or life of the mother and when the baby is conceived in rape or incest. Electing numerous pro-abortion judges could have a dangerous impact on the state and put the lives of additional preborn children at risk.
