Wisconsin's Supreme Court today ruled that a 176-year-old law held to ban abortions did not, as newer legislation had superceded it by criminalizing abortions only in cases when a fetus is viable outside the womb.
The 4-3 partisan vote ends a three-year legal battle that began when the 1849 law was made relevant following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to vacate Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling which had guaranteed a nationwide right to terminate pregnancies.
Because of the 1849 law, abortion providers in the state stopped offering the procedure. But Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul sued at the time, challenging the law, and the issue of how to interpret the 1849 statute has been in the courts since June of 2022.
Billionaire Elon Musk threw millions into a recent Supreme Court election in Wisconsin which likely decided this case. In the end, his conservative-leaning candidate was trounced so thoroughly by a liberal that commentators speculated his involvement had only hurt the campaign.
Wisconsin has a Republican-controlled legislature and a Democratic governor, meaning legislation on the matter is unlikely to go anywhere until at least the 2026 midterm elections. Wisconsin has no mechanism for initiating constitutional amendments or referendums, as voters have used in other states to push the issue.
Previously:
• Visit the World's Largest Potato Masher in Plover, Wisconsin
• 137 underage patrons were cited at one Wisconsin bar
