The Wisconsin Department of Health Services publishes data every year about abortions in the state. In the most recent year that has data available, 2019, there were 6,511 abortions state-wide. Forty-two percent of these were done after 8 weeks of gestation. In 2019 there were about 10 abortions for every 100 live births.

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The U.S. CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recently published data that 6.6 Million abortions were committed in the 2010-2019 decade.

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Numbers like the above really irk Alderman David Paff. He wants to condemn, along with his colleagues, the act of abortion in the State of Wisconsin. Paff authored, with the help of the City Attorney’s office, a resolution. A resolution has the force of law and only requires one full vote of the city council, unlike an ordinance change that requires one reading and two weeks later or so, a final vote.

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Although resolutions have the force of law, they also can be non-binding and symbolic, or “the opinion of council.” This was seen last week when Alderman Jan Michalski (D) * brought forward a resolution to “condemn the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.” There was once a resolution by Alderman Prozanski (D) and former Alderman Orth (D) * to condemn Act 10, a popular republican-backed bill in the state legislature that was signed into law by Scott Walker (R) *.

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Alderman Paff forwarded the resolution to the Finance Committee, chaired by Prozanski. Resolutions have to go before a committee before the City Council, unless the mayor agrees. This is because of the so-called “dictator ordinance” proposed by former mayor Keith Bosman and voted into law by the majority-democrat City Council circa 2013. Prozanski denied Paff’s request to put the resolution for a vote. The resolution was dead… that is, until Paff picked up the phone and called Alderman Rocco Lamacchia, who is the chairman of the Public Safety and Welfare Committee. Lamacchia agreed quickly to place the item on his March 28, 2022 agenda for a vote. “I don’t support abortion,” Lamacchia told KCE “I’m Catholic, it’s wrong.” Not only will Lamacchia be placing the item on his agenda for a vote, he will also be voting “yes” on the item, he told us in a phone interview Saturday.

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We reached out to Mayor John Antaramian (D) * and Council President David Bogdala (R) for comment and they didn’t wish to speak with KCE about this resolution. We reached out to Prozanski for comment, and he told us in part “Alderperson Paff’s resolution was not put on the Finance Agenda because Alderperson Paff provided no backup information nor did he call me or email me and let me know this was coming/details. So, with no additional information I decided to keep that item off THIS meeting’s agenda. I can’t think of an Alderperson that has an item they would like placed on the agenda that did not place a call/email or provide backup information. I personally think that Alderperson Paff’s resolution would be more germane to Public Safety and Welfare Committee.”

Popular Local Church Leader Reacts

Baptist preacher, Pastor Curtis McMiller was happy to see this resolution come forward, telling KCE “Exod 20:13, Prov 6:16, 17, and Prov 24:11, 12 – Of course, these passages speak against abortion, and rightly so. It is straight out of the word of God, the Bible!”

Avoiding A Vote

According to a City Council insider, the majority of Aldermen are hoping to avoid a vote altogether. Even though the Council is made up of about 14 democrats and 3 republicans, many of them don’t want to vote on this issue – they don’t want their stance on abortion to be a matter of public record. It is believed the Council will “table” this indefinitely or use another parliamentary procedure to avoid a “yes” or “no” vote. If they can’t, it is believed that will vote “no” with commentary saying that this isn’t “within the purview of the City,” contradicting their support opining on Moscow, some 4,934 miles from Kenosha “as the crow flies.”

Paff’s Opponent

KCE thought it fair to reach out to Paff’s opponent in this years April 5 election for comment. We did not immediately hear back from her, but will update this article when and if she responds.

* We are frequently asked why we put a (D) or an (R) after some politician’s names and not for others. We wish to explain. For some folks, it’s clear, they declare a party. President Joe Biden (D) declares himself a Democrat and does most things in line with his party, so we would put the (D) after his name. The Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis (R) declares he is a Republican and does most things in line with his party, so we would put the (R) after his name. For others, it might not seem so clear. For example, Mayor John Antaramian (D) spent time in the Wisconsin legislature and declared himself a democrat and to this day, most of the things he does align with the democratic party, so we put a (D) after his name. There are others that seem even less clear. Let’s use two examples. Sheriff David Clarke (R) ran as and took office as a Democrat, and the (D) was placed after his name. This may have been a campaign strategy for him. We will always place a (R) after his name because almost everything he does aligns with the Republican Party. For the Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth (D), he ran and lost as a democrat. He later ran and took office as a Republican, probably as a political strategy. Most of his actions, however are aligned with the Democratic party. We put a (D) after his name. Many local elected officials are non-partisan, but they might sign a pledge to align with a party. For example, many local elected officials and candidates for office signed a pledge to essentially “vote as a democrat.” Click here to see this pledge and list. Those folks will be identified with a (D) after their name. It isn’t always black and white. I always say “don’t listen to what someone says, listen to what someone does.”