Dane County judge: Doctors do not have to be present when woman takes abortion drugs

MADISON (AP) — A Dane County circuit court judge has ruled that Wisconsin doctors do not have to be present when a woman takes drugs prescribed for a medical abortion.

The decision Thursday by Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess clarifies a 2012 law challenged by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.

Both Planned Parenthood and the state Department of Justice had agreed on how the law ought to be interpreted. The law had been on hold since April 2013 while the case was pending.

Niess says in his ruling that doctors have to be present when giving the drug to a woman, but they do not have to be there when the woman actually ingests the pill.

The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the law in 2012 and Gov. Scott Walker signed it into law.