The legal challenge to Wisconsin’s pre-Roe abortion law could move more quickly after Planned Parenthood announced Thursday it will resume providing abortions in the state.
“With the recent confirmation from the Court that there is not an enforceable abortion ban in Wisconsin, our staff can now provide the full scope of sexual and reproductive health care to anyone in Wisconsin who needs it, no matter what,” President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin Tanya Atkinson said.
Planned Parenthood plans to resume performing abortions Monday.
A Dane County judge ruled in July Wisconsin’s pre-Roe abortion law didn’t apply to abortions. Judge Diane Schlipper said there is no such thing as an ‘1849 Abortion Ban’ in Wisconsin,” she said the state’s ban on abortion, instead, applies to feticide.
Gov. Tony Evers praised Planned Parenthood’s announcement.
“This is great news, but our fight to restore the same reproductive freedoms Wisconsinites had up until the day #SCOTUS overturned #Roe must continue,” Evers said on Twitter.
Planned Parenthood stopped providing abortions in June 2022, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Gracie Skogman, legislative director for Wisconsin Right to Life, said Planned Parenthood’s decision will be devastating for “pre-born children and women here in the state.”
Skogman also accused Planned Parenthood of ignoring the legal process that has yet to unfold.
“Our belief is that Planned Parenthood is putting profit over actually waiting for a final determination from the courts,” she added.
Wisconsin’s pre-Roe law bans nearly all abortions, except in certain cases to save a mother’s life.
Schlipper heard an argument against the law in June, and has yet to issue a ruling. However, she is expected to strike the law down. From there, the law is expected to be challenged in front of the new liberal-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Republicans in Wisconsin want newly-elected Justice Janet Protasiewicz to recuse herself from that case because of what she said about the pre-Roe abortion law while running for the high court.
