Liberal majority on Wisconsin Supreme Court overturns pre-Civil War abortion ban

The Wisconsin Supreme Court invalidated a state abortion ban…that was enacted in 1849 and had been dormant for the last five decades.

The decision settles an uncertainty that has surrounded abortion law in the state since June 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion nationwide.

The 1849 state law had said that anyone other than the pregnant woman “who intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child” could face six years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The only exception was for abortions to save the life of the pregnant woman.

After reversal of Roe returned the regulation of abortion to the states, Gov. Tony Evers and the attorney general, Josh Kaul, sued to invalidate the 1849 ban…

…[Some] prosecutors said they would enforce the 1849 law, prompting doctors and clinics to cease providing abortions in the state for nearly 18 months.

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Pre-Roe bans like Wisconsin’s 1849 statute are on the books in other states. 

This is an excerpt. Read the original post here