Wisconsin Attorney General Files Motion to Expedite Decision in his Challenge to State's Abortion Ban

Tuesday, August 8th, 2023 -- 10:01 AM

(Jesse Opoien, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) Attorney General Josh Kaul on Monday filed a motion seeking to expedite a decision in his challenge against Wisconsin's abortion ban, a move that comes less than a week after liberals gained control of the state Supreme Court.

According to Jesse Opoien with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the case, which is currently before Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper, is expected to make its way to the state's high court.

“Women should not be denied the freedom to make fundamental reproductive health care decisions,” Kaul said in a statement. “Our filing today marks another important step in our fight to protect the freedom and safety of women in Wisconsin.”

Kaul's latest motion asks Schlipper to declare, without further oral arguments, that the 19th Century-era law is unenforceable as applied to abortion. Schlipper already signaled that such an outcome is likely in her denial last month of a motion to dismiss the lawsuit from defendant Sheboygan District Attorney Joel Urmanski.

Schlipper indicated she believes the statute, written in 1849, does not apply to consensual abortions but instead applies to feticide. "There is no such thing as an '1849 Abortion Ban' in Wisconsin. A physician who performs a consensual medical abortion commits a crime only 'after the fetus or unborn child reaches viability …'" she wrote, explicitly adding the law does not prohibit consensual medical abortions.

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