Wisconsin judge reaffirms abortion ruling; law doesn't ban abortions
MADISON, Wis. - A Wisconsin judge on Tuesday reaffirmed her ruling from earlier this year that state law permits consensual medical abortions, handing abortion rights advocates a massive victory but opening up appellate options for conservatives.
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the court's landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortion, in June 2022 reactivated an 1849 Wisconsin law that conservatives interpreted as banning abortion. Abortion providers ceased operations in the state out of fear of violating the ban.
Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit days after the U.S. Supreme Court decision challenging the ban's validity. He argued the statutes were too old to enforce and a 1985 law permitting abortions before fetuses can survive outside the womb trump the ban. Three doctors later joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs, saying they fear being prosecuted for performing abortions.
MADISON, WISCONSIN - January 22: Abortion rights supporters rally at the Bigger Than Roe National Mobilization March in the rotunda of the Capital in Madison, on January 22, 2022. (Photo by Sara Stathas for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper ruled this past July that the ban prohibits someone from attacking a woman in an attempt to kill her unborn child but doesn't apply to consensual medical abortions. Her finding didn't formally end the lawsuit but Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin was confident enough in the ruling to resume abortion procedures at their Madison and Milwaukee clinics in September.
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Joel Urmanski, the Republican district attorney in Sheboygan County, where Planned Parenthood's third abortion clinic is located, had asked Schlipper to reconsider her the ruling.
Schlipper refused in a 14-page opinion issued Tuesday, writing that Urmanski failed to show how she misapplied state law or made any other mistake and declared that the plaintiffs had won the suit.
She declined the doctors' request, however, to issue an injunction prohibiting prosecutors from charging abortion providers. Prosecutors in Dane, Milwaukee and Sheboygan County have said they would abide by her ruling that state law permits consensual abortions, she noted.
Wisconsin abortion services available; protesters gather outside clinics
Abortion services are now available at Wisconsin Planned Parenthood clinics including in Milwaukee.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said in a statement Tuesday that it expects to resume abortion procedures at its facility in Sheboygan "as soon as possible."
Urmanski’s attorney, listed in online court records as Andrew Phillips, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Kaul called the ruling a "momentous victory."
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"Freedom wins. Equality wins. Women’s health wins," he said in a statement.
The lawsuit is likely far from over. Tuesday's ruling opens the door for conservatives to appeal and a case of this magnitude will likely end up before the state Supreme Court. Liberal justices currently control the court, making it likely that Schlipper's ruling will stand.
Reactions
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin:
"Today’s ruling is another important step forward in restoring and expanding access to abortion in Wisconsin. Since the overturning of Roe, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has maintained that Wis. Stat. 940.04 could not be enforced against abortion providers. This final ruling again confirms this. We are grateful to Attorney General Kaul and Governor Evers for their leadership and efforts to protect reproductive freedom in Wisconsin."
Wisconsin Right to Life:
"The ruling is truly disappointing for all Wisconsinites. A law that was enforced before the flawed decision of Roe is now one that pro-choice activists on the court are willing to use as a tool for their cause. Instead of providing true support for women and families in this post-Dobbs landscape, they are putting lives on the line."