Overview
- In a 4-3 ruling on July 2, the court’s liberal majority invalidated the 1849 law that criminalized nearly all abortions as felonies except to save the mother’s life.
- Justice Rebecca Dallet wrote that comprehensive legislation since the 1980s regulating when and how providers may perform abortions impliedly repealed the near-total ban.
- Attorney General Josh Kaul had argued that the 1985 statute permitting abortions up to fetal viability superseded the 1849 law, facing opposition from conservative prosecutors.
- The decision affirms a 2023 Dane County finding that the old ban applies only to non-consensual fetal killing and does not prohibit voluntary abortions.
- Planned Parenthood’s separate challenge to enshrine abortion rights under the state constitution remains pending, with Justice Susan Crawford set to weigh in after her upcoming swearing-in.