Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly speaks at a news conference in the court chamber on May 28, 2019, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer, File)

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Dan Kelly has been downplaying his stance on reproductive rights and says he won’t be an activist judge, despite a long history of obvious anti-abortion sentiment.

In a blog post written by Kelly in 2013, he expressed his approval of the ruling in the Korte v. Sebelius Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals case, which was a challenge to the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act. The conservative court ruled to uphold a company’s right to restrict contraception coverage from their employee’s insurance plans due to this being on conflict to the owner of the company’s religious beliefs. Kelly also criticized a liberal justice for their dissenting opinion in the case.

Kelly has also been endorsed by Pro-Life Wisconsin, Wisconsin Right to Life and Wisconsin Family Action, all staunch anti-abortion organizations. In addition to believing abortion should be illegal in every case, Pro-Life Wisconsin wants to ban most contraception, birth control and in vitro fertilization.

In another one of Kelly’s blog posts, he said that abortion’s primary purpose is “harming children to preserve sexual libertinism.” The same post has Kelly saying, “An abortion, of course, involves taking the life of a human being. And everyone involved in the subject knows it.”

In the past, Kelly has also said that his job as a judge is to “apply his reading of biblical scripture to legal cases that come before him.” Kelly previously served on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, after being appointed by former Gov. Scott Walker (R). He lost his election bid in 2020 to liberal Justice Jill Karofsky however. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Kelly’s tenure on the court saw him criticize the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage, saying it undermined democracy.

During an appearance at the Rotary Club of Milwaukee Tuesday, Kelly defended his past advocacy by saying many times that he will not become an activist judge and make his decisions based on the law. Meanwhile, he criticized his liberal rival Janet Protasiewicz for her pro-abortion advocacy, saying hers is different and makes her an activist judge.

With a Republican-controlled state legislature, there is little Gov. Tony Evers (D) can do to restore reproductive rights to his state. If Protasiewicz prevails, there is an avenue for the Wisconsin Supreme Court to bypass the legislature and overturn an abortion law that predates the Civil War.

Abortion rights are not the only contentious issue in Wisconsin, as gerrymandered maps have been upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court multiple times.

This Wisconsin Supreme Court race has shattered fundraising records as the political future of the state could hang in the balance. Kelly and Protasiewicz have both agreed to one televised debate on March 21. The election will be held on April 4.