Abortion Access in Wisconsin Remains in Limbo as Cases Work Through the Courts

Tuesday, June 25th, 2024 -- 11:00 AM

(Rich Kremer, Wisconsin Public Radio) In the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, Wisconsinites have seen abortion access disappear and return, all while courts have considered whether state law bans the procedure or the state constitution protects it.

According to Rich Kremer with Wisconsin Public Radio, on June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority declared a right to abortion no longer exists under the U.S. Constitution, sending the issue back to the states.

Abortion providers in Wisconsin ceased all abortion services, citing a law on the books that predates the Civil War. Days after the federal decision came down, Democratic Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the law, which was widely described as an abortion ban.

Things changed again last year, when a Dane County circuit court judge ruled the 19th century law does not prohibit consensual medical abortions. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced it would resume abortion services at clinics in Milwaukee and Madison, arguing that the pre-Civil War ban is not enforceable.

It later resumed abortion services in Sheboygan County. In February, Republican Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski asked the state Supreme Court to bypass a state appeals court and immediately hear the case involving the 19th century law.

That same month, Planned Parenthood filed a petition with the state Supreme Court asking them to decide whether the Wisconsin Constitution protects a woman’s right to medical abortion services.

The overturning of Roe also played a key role in flipping the state Supreme Court majority from conservative to liberal with the election of Justice Janet Protasiewicz in April 2023.

She was outspoken in her support for abortion rights, while her conservative opponent, former Justice Dan Kelly, had provided legal advice to the anti-abortion advocacy group Wisconsin Right to Life.

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