Wisconsin abortion ruling, Sheboygan County prosecutor to appeal
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - The future of Wisconsin's abortion law runs through Sheboygan, as that county's district attorney pledges to appeal a ruling that an 1849 state law didn't actually ban abortion.
Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski spoke only on FOX6 News a day after releasing a statement. In the Dec. 6 statement, he wrote he thought the 1849 law "plainly applies to abortion."
The statute states: "Any person, other than the mother, who intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child is guilty of a Class H Felony."
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Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin's website still refers to it as: "a 173-year-old law prohibiting abortion."
On Tuesday, Dec. 5, Dane County Judge Diane Schlipper issued a final ruling that the law only applies to feticide, not abortion. That Wisconsin law was sidelined with the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade; but the debates about the state statute intensified in 2022, when the same high court reversed Roe.
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Wisconsin abortion ban; Republican prosecutor to appeal ruling
The Sheboygan County district attorney plans to appeal a court ruling that Wisconsin law permits consensual medical abortions.
Urmanski said he'd comply with the Dane County circuit court judge's ruling, at the same time he pledged to appeal it. FOX6's Jason Calvi questioned him:
Calvi: "Can we get your reaction to the abortion ruling, please?"
Urmanski: "I made a comment and a statement. I know it was sent to your agency, so you already have that statement. That’s all I’m making is a statement."
Calvi: "When do you expect to appeal?"
Urmanski: "My attorneys are working on things. So it’s in their hands…Right now we’re going to the Court of Appeals, so we’ll see what happens."
Calvi: "So, the Court of Appeals will be the next step?"
Urmanski: "Court of Appeals is the next step."
Calvi: "Not the Supreme Court?"
Urmanski: "Correct."
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin and their supporters on Thurs. gathered outside the courthouse and urged the district attorney not to appeal.
"He was elected not to prolong a fight that is unwinnable in legislation and is an unpopular agenda by the people," said Amber Golembeski, a nurse practitioner.
Planned Parenthood had three clinics in Wisconsin that offered abortions before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, but stopped doing abortions after the national ruling in 2022.
In September 2023, after Schlipper's initial ruling regarding the state law, Planned Parenthood resumed abortion in Milwaukee and Madison. They don't have a timeline for reopening the Sheboygan clinic, citing logistical difficulties, like staffing.
"Unfortunately, there is not a rough timeline, but certainly it’s a priority for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin," said Michelle Velasquez of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin.