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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority strikes down 176-year-old
abortion ban
By Associated Press, CNN
Updated:
11:06 AM EDT, Wed July 2, 2025
Source: AP
The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority struck down the
state’s 176-year-old abortion ban on Wednesday, ruling 4-3 that it
was superseded by a newer state law that criminalizes abortions only
after a fetus can survive outside the womb.
State lawmakers adopted the ban in 1849, making it a felony when anyone
other than the mother “intentionally destroys the life of an unborn
child.”
It was in effect until 1973, when the US Supreme Court’s landmark Roe
v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide nullified it.
Legislators never officially repealed the ban, however, and
conservatives argued that the US Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to
overturn Roe reactivated it.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit that
year arguing that the ban was trumped by abortion restrictions
legislators enacted during the nearly half-century that Roe was in
effect. Kaul specifically cited a 1985 law that essentially permits
abortions until viability. Some babies can survive with medical help
after 21 weeks of gestation.
Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski, a Republican,
defended the ban in court, arguing that the 1849 ban could coexist with
the newer abortion restrictions, just as different penalties for the
same crime coexist.
Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper ruled in 2023 that the 1849
ban outlaws feticide – which she defined as the killing of a fetus
without the mother’s consent – but not consensual abortions.
Abortions have been available in the state since that ruling but the
state Supreme Court decision gives providers and patients more
certainty that abortions will remain legal in Wisconsin.
Urmanski asked the state Supreme Court to overturn Schlipper’s ruling
without waiting for a decision from a lower appellate court. It was
expected as soon as the justices took the case that they would overturn
the ban.
Liberals hold a 4-3 majority on the court and one of them, Janet
Protasiewicz, openly stated on the campaign trail that she supports
abortion rights.
Democratic-backed Susan Crawford defeated conservative Brad Schimel for
an open seat on the court in April, ensuring liberals will maintain
their 4-3 edge until at least 2028. Crawford has not been sworn in yet
and was not part of Wednesday’s ruling. She’ll play pivotal role,
though, in a separate Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin lawsuit
challenging the 1849 ban’s constitutionality. The high court decided
last year to take that case. It’s still pending.
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